Tuesday, February 28, 2017
Money from 10 funding sources — including a $10 increase for the annual fee on motor vehicle registrations, a sales tax on marina slip rentals, and 1 percent increases in rooms, meals and alcohol taxes — would achieve that multimillion dollar figure, the Natural Resources, Fish and Wildlife Committee calculated.
The taxes would start in 2019 while the state figures out how to levy a “per-parcel fee” to be implemented in 2021. Such a fee would require property owners of all sizes, as well as tax-exempt organizations, to pay varying amounts annually.
Under the committee’s recommendation, that fee would become the long-term funding source as the state works to meet federally mandated goals to reduce phosphorus in Vermont’s rivers, streams and lakes. In the meantime, the state would rely on existing bonding capacity for the pollution reduction efforts.
Tags: Lake Champlain cleanup , David Deen , Phil Scott , Beth Pearce , Image , Web Only
Friday, February 24, 2017
Mental health providers panicked after a Vermont Supreme Court ruling last May, which, in their interpretation, drastically expanded their “duty to warn” when releasing patients from their care.
Before the so-called Kuligoski case, providers had to warn people when there was an imminent threat to an identifiable victim. The court ruling expanded the obligation to also apply to “foreseeable victims or to those whose membership in a particular class ... places them within a zone of danger.”
The Senate voted to restore the previous standard — essentially voiding the court’s ruling. According to Sen. Jeanette White (D-Windham), who presented the bill, an “identifiable victim” doesn’t have to be a particular person. She noted that it could extend “to a situation where a patient says, ‘I hate barbers. I’ve got a gun. And I’m going to go kill a barber.’”
Tags: Vermont Senate , Kuligoski , Vermont Supreme Court , Image , Web Only
Gov. Phil Scott is headed to visit President Donald Trump, a day after the state’s Senate unanimously voted for a bill that would insulate Vermont from enforcing controversial immigration edicts touted by the commander in chief.
Scott, who has said he didn’t vote for his fellow Republican, enthusiastically joined legislative leaders in backing the Vermont immigration bill, which his staff helped write.
“This is about what I see as federal overreach in terms of our Constitution,” Scott said of the bill. “I feel this puts us on a pathway to giving some relief to Vermonters and to calm down the rhetoric and anxiety.”
Tags: Donald Trump , Phil Scott , Vermont legislature , immigration , National Governors Association , Image , Web Only
Thursday, February 23, 2017
“I think we’re doing something really special here today,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Tim Ashe (D/P-Chittenden). “It really does send a different kind of message ... Whether you look different or pray differently or whatever it is, you’re welcome in this place that respects differences.”
The Senate voted 30-0 in favor of the bill, which was written in response to President Donald Trump’s recent immigration orders.
Lawmakers said the legislation seeks to do two things: prevent the federal government from deputizing local police to enforce immigration law, and bar the state from providing residents’ personal information to be used for a religious registry.
Tags: immigration , Donald Trump , Vermont Senate , Burlington High School , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, February 22, 2017
Leaders of all three political parties agreed the recount could not take place because a bag of ballots had been opened in Chelsea in late December. Though the Secretary of State’s Office had been consulted about the opening process, and there was no allegation that ballots were missing, the parties agreed to halt the recount.
“I don’t see how we can move forward,” said Rep. Robin Chesnut-Tangerman (P-Middletown Springs), the House Progressive caucus leader. “The whole point of the recount was to ensure a process we could all have faith in.”
He, along with Republican and Democratic House leaders, declared Rep. Bob Frenier’s (R-Chelsea) election no longer in question.
Tags: election recount , Susan Hatch Davis , Bob Frenier , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only
On Thursday morning, the Senate Health and Welfare Committee took a first look at a draft bill aiming to identify solutions for the system's intractable problems. The bill has yet to be formally introduced, but is poised for quick approval. Committee chair Claire Ayer (D-Addison) expects to move the bill out of committee by the end of next week.
"The rationale behind the bill is to take a look at a system that should work, that was designed to work, but that isn't working," Ayer explained.
The bill's scope takes in the entire system, but focuses on a few known trouble spots: chronic underfunding and understaffing at community-based agencies, a rising tide of geriatric and forensic psychiatric patients, and improving the coordination between different parts of the system.
Tags: Senate Health and Welfare Committee , Claire Ayer , Al Gobeille , designated agencies , mental health care , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, February 21, 2017
Rep. Sam Young (D-Glover) is the lead sponsor of a bill due to be introduced Wednesday. On Tuesday, he collected cosponsors and said he expected to have about 15 lawmakers sign on.
"If we're going to legalize marijuana, I think we should also tax and regulate it," said Young, who is vice chair of the Committee on Ways & Means.
Young said he's received no assurances from legislative leaders that his bill would pass. Taxing and regulating marijuana is an approach the Senate passed last year, but that failed to gain traction in the House.
Tags: Cannabeat , marijuana legalization , Phil Scott , Sam Young , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only
Thursday, February 16, 2017
But inside the chamber itself, members busied themselves saying no to happy hour for the rest of Vermont. By a tally of 69-49, legislators voted down an amendment that would have changed state law and allowed bars to offer short-term drink specials.
Rep. Oliver Olsen (I-Londonderry), who represents several ski towns, sought to do away with the Puritan statute. Vermont is one of 11 states, including notoriously dry Utah, that don't allow happy hour, Olsen said.
He called his amendment "an economic development issue," noting that Vermont is increasingly a culinary destination. His proposal would have allowed bars to offer discounts for two hours or less at a time on beer or wine, but not hard liquor.
Tags: happy hour , liquor laws , Oliver Olsen , Tom Stevens , Heidi Scheuermann , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only
Friday, February 10, 2017
Human Services Secretary Al Gobeille provided testimony to the Senate Appropriations Committee on his agency’s fiscal year 2018 budget and got all the way to the seventh chart in his prepared presentation before the hearing stalled.
The chart showed trends in state funding for “Designated Agencies and Specialized Service Agencies,” which are nonprofit organizations that provide mental health, substance abuse and disability-related services under contract with the state of Vermont. They are generally referred to as “designated agencies.”
Tags: Al Gobeille , Agency of Human Services , Senate Appropriations Committee , Jane Kitchel , Dick Sears , Richard Westman , designated agencies , Image , Web Only
Thursday, February 9, 2017
The Statehouse's iconic Cedar Creek Room, redolent with the heritage of official Vermont, its walls dotted with portraits of dead white men, was filled Thursday morning with Vermonters of color — advocating for legislation but also wishing simply to be recognized.
"We are invisible," said Sha'an Mouliert of St. Johnsbury. "One of our missions is to ensure that our elected representatives can no longer not see us, can no longer not represent us. We are part of your constituency."
Or, in a phrase oft-repeated during a press conference, "I am Vermont too," a statement that people of color are Vermonters every bit as much as the flintiest son of Ethan Allen. "I Am Vermont Too" is the title of a related photo exhibit in the Statehouse cafeteria, featuring Vermonters of color holding handwritten messages revealing some of the small indignities they suffer in daily life, like strangers touching their curly hair or marveling at their ability to speak English.
Tags: Black Lives Matter , Kiah Morris , Ebony Nyoni , Sha'an Mouliert , Cedar Creek Room , dead white men , Image , Web Only