Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Caroline Bright, a Democrat who lives in the town of Georgia, said Tuesday that she’ll run for the House instead.
Bright, who ran for the Senate in 2012, would have faced at least a three-way race for two Democratic slots on the ballot — not to mention a competitive general election fight. Candidates are lining up in hopes of replacing Sen. Norm McAllister (R-Franklin), who was suspended in January after his arrest last year on sexual assault charges.
Bright, a 25-year-old flight attendant and former Miss Vermont, could have less competition for the House seat. She’s eyeing a single-member district that has been represented for the past 14 years by Rep. Carolyn Branagan (R-Georgia), who is vacating her seat to run for Senate.
Tags: Caroline Bright , Carolyn Branagan , Norm McAllister , Dustin Degree , Sara Kittell , Denise Smith , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
Tuesday, one of the Public Service Board’s three members delivered a different message back: The Senate bill is full of flaws, board member Margaret Cheney told two House committees.
A former state representative who has served on the quasi-judicial Public Service Board since 2013, Cheney returned to the Statehouse on Tuesday to discuss the bill with her former colleagues. She acknowledged that the public is frustrated by the board’s complicated process, but she downplayed the depths of that frustration.
“There have been legitimate complaints about navigating and understanding the board process,” Cheney said, but added, “We are working to do a much better job with customer service.”
Tags: renewable energy , Vermont Public Service Board , Margaret Cheney , Rep. Tony Klein , Image , Web Only
Friday, April 8, 2016
The vote came after the committee narrowly rejected a proposal to table the legislation entirely.
The bill that passed the committee does not legalize marijuana, as the Senate voted to do, but would establish a study commission to prepare for eventual legalization, said Judiciary Committee vice chair Willem Jewett (D-Ripton).
Committee members who voted for the bill were: chair Maxine Grad (D-Moretown), Jewett, Barbara Rachelson (D-Burlington), Martin LaLonde (D-South Burlington), Chip Conquest (D-Newbury) and Bill Frank (D-Underhill).
Tags: Cannabeat , marijuana legalization , Maxine Grad , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only
Lt. Gov. Phil Scott announced Friday morning on the Senate floor that, in addition to serving on the Natural Resources and Energy Committee, the South Burlington Republican will sit on the Education Committee. There, she’ll replace Sen. Dustin Degree (R-Franklin), who was shifted to the powerful Senate Finance Committee.
The changes, which were approved in secret by the Senate’s three-member Committee on Committees, took at least one member by surprise. After Scott made the announcement and the Senate adjourned for the week, Sen. Ann Cummings (D-Washington) confronted Senate President Pro Tempore John Campbell (D-Windsor) on the floor.
“It would have been nice to know. That’s all,” she told Campbell, who serves with Scott on the Committee on Committees. “I’m learning a lot about being a team player.”
Tags: Committee on Committees , Vermont Senate , Phil Scott , Dick Mazza , John Campbell , Image , Web Only
Klein, 69, said he and his wife, Jennifer Boyer, want to spend more time traveling and visiting their grandchildren.
“I decided that being dedicated to the Statehouse from January to May was getting a little tiresome,” he said. “I’ve done it 14 years. I’ve loved it.”
Tags: Vermont elections , Tony Klein , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only
Thursday, April 7, 2016
Jerman, 67, announced his retirement Wednesday evening at Essex Junction’s annual village meeting.
“It’s been six terms of service, the most rewarding professional experience of my life,” he said in an email to supporters later that night. “It’s been an honor to work alongside so many great people from all parties to enact meaningful laws which make Vermont a better place.”
Tags: Tim Jerman , Vermont House , Image , Web Only
Grad’s proposal will serve as a starting point for the 11-member committee as it nears decision time on whether to change the state’s marijuana laws. The panel appears unwilling to embrace a Senate-passed bill that would legalize sale and possession of marijuana starting in 2018.
Whether a majority of the House committee will find Grad’s plan too liberal, too conservative or just right remains unclear. The committee broke for the day immediately after Grad presented her bill.
“I know it will not go as far as some people will go, but it goes further than other people would like to go,” Grad told her committee.
Tags: Cannabeat , marijuana legalization , Vermont House , Image , Web Only
Wednesday, April 6, 2016
The chemical, a possible carcinogen, has already been detected in dozens of private drinking water wells in North Bennington, the former home to a plant that used PFOA to make Teflon products. Subsequent tests found amounts exceeding the state’s standard of 20 parts per trillion in a creek and a pond near the closed plant. A municipal water source in Pownal showed PFOA levels of 26 parts per trillion, slightly above the guideline set by the Department of Health.
Alyssa Schuren, commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation, said her staff researched the industries in Vermont that might have used PFOA to make Teflon, wire coatings or nonstick fabrics. The state plans to coordinate testing of ground and drinking water at and around each of the 11 sites they identified, Schuren said. The federal Environmental Protection Agency will pay for most of the testing.
Tags: PFOA , IBM , Alyssa Schuren , Department of Environmental Conservation , Department of Health , Saint-Gobain , Image , Web Only
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
To make up for the loss in tax revenue from tobacco sales, the bill calls for a 13-cent increase in the tax on cigarettes in each of the next three years. A single 13-cent tax hike would raise about $900,000.
The House spent much of Tuesday on this measure. The first vote, to add the tax to the age-change bill, was close: 75 to 68. Critics argued the bill was another excuse to raise taxes.
“This is not a health bill, but just another tax and anti-business bill,” Rep. Ron Hubert (R-Milton) said, explaining his no vote.
Tags: cigarettes , Rep. Carolyn Branagan , Rep. Ron Hubert , Rep. Kurt Wright , Rep. Mike Mrowicki , Sen. John Campbell , Image , Web Only
House Judiciary Committee chair Maxine Grad (D-Moretown) said she can’t envision a majority of her 11-member committee voting for the legalization bill that the Senate passed in February, which would allow the sale and possession of small amounts of marijuana in 2018. House leaders have been clear that the legislation faces tougher going in the House than it did in the Senate, where it passed 17-12.
“I don’t know how far people can go,” Grad said Tuesday.
“You think you can get six votes out of our committee for that? I don’t know,” committee vice chair Willem Jewett (D-Ripton) said Tuesday.
Tags: Cannabeat , Marijuana legalization , Maxine Grad , Shap Smith , Vermont legislature , Image , Web Only