“Sometimes the Legislature focuses so much on their goals they don’t consider the unintended consequences. And the reality is, there are almost always some negative consequences as the result of new policies,” Scott said.
It is increasingly more expensive to keep and repopulate his hives, the vetoed bill’s sponsor said, because colonies are dying at faster rates in recent years.
Agreeing that “pollinators are essential,” Gov. Scott said “the same is true of farmers” and that the bill is “more anti-farmer than it is pro-pollinator.”
The Wealth Tax passed the House but not the Senate this year. One tax hike that went through with little notice: landline and postpaid wireless phone use taxes will be assessed differently and collect $3 million more new revenue.
If someone chose not to hire a person due to their hairstyle, it could be construed as an act of racism.
The law lets “individuals who meet the requirements for professional licenses to be granted those licenses regardless of their immigration status or lack thereof.”
Scott wonders how many legislators actually read, much less understood, the 60 bills passed in the final week.
Initially, the bill would’ve decriminalized psilocybin, also known as magic mushrooms. But after a variety of doctors questioned whether there was enough research on the hallucinogenic, the Senate took it out.
A high-level overview of what the Legislature did on housing, public safety, and affordability.
Part of the bill aimed to ban hunters from using dogs and bait — without a trappers’ license — to hunt coyotes in the state.
On the last day of the 2024 session, the Vermont Legislature passed a state budget, school funding, Act 250 reform, and a slew of lesser-known bills.
While I may have lost the adjournment pool, it is a very safe bet there will be gubernatorial vetoes over the next several weeks.
“This is a regressive bill. It will punish working class and poor Vermonters to make millionaires even richer,” Rodgers said.
“I think the majority (of Democrats) didn’t want to take it up in an election year with all the sportsmen voters out there defending Vermont traditions,” said Rep. Smith, of Derby.
Vermonters will continue to pay for a mirage that promises effective climate change legislation but yields no discernible results.
“They have to have a way to build wealth,” Rodgers said. “Home ownership is a way to build equity and wealth which will turn into intergenerational wealth. Without that, people are just working like dogs and they’re handing all their money over to some business or business owner.
He doesn’t like what he sees in housing and school funding legislation. On public safety and affordability, he sees a glass half full.
Not only will Vermont need to front its own legal costs and hire various experts to back up its claims, but the State could also be on the hook for the defendants’ legal bills if it loses the case on constitutional grounds.
Gov. Phil Scott appointed a Democrat to fill the seat vacated by Progressive Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, who was elected mayor of Burlington.
Child poisoning from THC has risen 2000 percent and Vermont has one of the highest youth use rates in the nation, Antley said.
Here’s the rub – no advocate for Proposal 4 has actually furthered a need for the legislative change aside from a feel-good virtue-signal.
South Burlington leads the school districts facing failed school budget revotes today.
Rep. Michael Mrowicki, who declined to accept a written copy of VFA’s testimony, stated that public libraries are sacred institutions. VFA told the Committee that families are sacred institutions that no individual, organization, or government entity has a right to undermine.
Amid a hefty bill focused on the state’s natural disaster response is a provision to better inform Vermonters who can’t hear or speak little English.
Vermont only has five medical cannabis dispensaries as opposed to at least 51 recreational businesses opening within the last two years.
Hunters have been the primary force for conservation since it’s inception in the US.
Vermont aging school buildings need a $6 billion facelift – spending that would be above and beyond the burgeoning sum under fire by taxpayers.
Misinformation is a threat to our democracy, both nationally and as a state. At least here, being fact-based and credible is important to the bulk of advocates,
The Senate also is reportedly considering taxing clothing purchases of more than $150, raising taxes on sugared drinks, and dipping into reserve funds and tax surpluses to further reduce the property taxes.
It was neatly summed up by TAG member Christopher Trombly’s revelation, “We’re taxing the poor so that the rich can benefit.”
“This is systemic racism, what we’re dealing with right here,” Hughes said. “I mean come on, we’re talking about now sending it back over to the Senate because one person who happens to be white and privileged came in and told you one thing about some civil liberties that could potentially be taken and you got a black man right here telling you about civil liberties that are currently at risk.”
The Senate will hold a noon-hour caucus today to help its members understand recent amendments to an already complicated housing/Act 250 reform bill.
Legislators added the original bill’s language to H.878, which deals with “miscellaneous judiciary procedures.”
A bookstore owner and House Democrat co-sponsored the bill.
It further states that the Commissioner of Public Safety will appoint a Director of Animal Welfare to be in charge of the Division.
Vermont 4th grade reading scores have been dropping steadily since 2015.
Settle into a bumpy ride to scheduled May 10 adjournment.
There’s a multi-million gap between the House budget and the more frugal Senate budget. Conference committee time.
“There is something, sort of, you know, that might tend towards anti-democratic about this,” Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, Chair of Ways & Means, admitted.
If cameras catch you driving more than 10 mph over the limit, the rig takes a photo of your license plate and you’ll get a ticket in the mail.
“This bill is not a solution, it is only a Band-Aid that won’t even stop the bleed,” Rep. Ashley Bartley (R-Fairfax) said.
“Politicians threaten our food, water, and shelter. Vermonters rally,” said the announcement for the Vermont Values Under ATAX rally at the Vermont State House today.
Rod Coronado of Orange boasts about his work ‘monitoring’ coyote hunters. One of those hunters said he saw Coronado in the woods.
So, leftist legislators are, of course, trying to shut them down.
Senators to have hearing for new education secretary, $130 million for capital repairs, and more
Every state senator elected with VPIRG campaign contributions has voted yes on S.259, VPIRG’s Superfund bill.
The bill says companies that distribute PCBs must pay for the testing and removal of the chemicals in Vermont’s schools.
Should an employer be limited only to ‘just cause’ firing of employees? Will the House pursue the Senate notion of a Big Oil Superfund?
Under the bill, companies would be barred from sale, lease, or disclosure of people’s biometric info unless necessary for the service or the person consents.
Work permits for undocumented workers, ghost guns, and government meeting in private all progressing thru Legislature.
A 15% property tax increase and the creation of two new taxes isn’t the solution to Vermont’s school funding crisis, GOP leaders said Thursday.
The Homeless Bill of Rights made it through the House, but only after the Controversial ‘right’ to panhandle in public was removed.
Any bill that takes years to allow more housing construction under Act 250 faces a veto, Gov. Phil Scott said.
Can history be taught in Vermont schools without teaching the Holocaust?
Nearly a year after passage the most basic concepts around “the plan” remain unaddressed.
Faced with an 86% shrinkage in homes for sale, the Legislature is looking at Act 250 reforms and increasing temporary housing funding.
The House Ways & Means Committee proposed significant changes to Vermont’s education financing system, incl. limits on
future school budget increases.
A hunting ‘reform’ bill that passed with tepid support in the Senate will be discussed in a House committee this week.
Should the right to collective bargaining be enshrined in the Constitution?
The bill says if people agree to use protection before or during sex, neither party can remove or tamper with the condom without the other’s consent.
Bills with legs usually have a dozen or so legislators proudly standing in support at press conferences. Then, there’s S.258.
Do Vermont police need a code of conduct?
The bill would limit Vermont police interrogators from lying to detainees. But lawmakers doubled down on details that got last year’s version shot down.
The bizarre testimony of the Renewable Energy Vermont executive director.
Consumers and local governments must bow to more government overreach.
The House will consider this week a Senate-backed bill to create a Superfund to make oil companies pay for expensive renewable power and efficiency upgrades in Vermont.
Our Constitution is leaning more to the Left… “Right to collectively bargain” would exacerbate our public pension crisis, tax crisis, and job flight.
The House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry has “United Nations” referenced in at least six committee documents.
“People lose faith in government when policies have these inconsistencies,” Scott said.
This cherished landscape is going away. We are blotting it out bit by bit, and once those bits are gone, we can’t get them back
By a 105-37 roll call vote, the House made the pandemic-era state emergency housing program (sometimes known as the ‘homeless hotel’ program) permanent in statute, and expanded its services.
Senators look to address police Code of Conduct, declare overdoses an emergency, new protections for the homeless, and more
When Rep. Brian Cina (P-Burlington) told the House to “Read My Lips: Yes! New taxes!,” he proved that “belligerence is the truest sign of lack of ability.”
The House will consider bills to clamp down on fossil fuel investment while waiving the permit process for large-ish battery storage systems.
A bill to guarantee increased wetlands under state management will cost at least $1 million next year, if it passes.
We have a long way to go before the various tax and spending bills reach the Governor’s desk. The Senate may have different views on what taxes to raise.
“We’re being told that we still don’t have enough money. Clearly we do not have a revenue problem, we have a spending problem,” Rep. Scott Beck (R-St. Johnsbury) said.
The Legislature is opening a big bag of new and higher taxes.
What will happen to EV batteries when they stop working?
Touted as ‘pro-housing,’ the Act 250 reform bill gives a mid-2026 start date for Act 250 review-free housing, limits them to small areas of the state, and imposes a tight review process.
“I don’t think we should be voting on a budget that pretends a certain amount of spending,” Donahue said. “Transparency to our constituents is one of our most important obligations.”
“You want to be able to understand … if somebody was involved in credit card fraud,” a spokesperson for Vermont bankers said.
Controversial bills that have already cleared the House are now being reviewed by Senate committees.
The health costs of flavored nicotine products far outweigh the tax revenues generated.
The Senate passed an amended bill that, although less restrictive than the original version, could be “the end of hunting as we know it in Vermont,” one senator said. The Senate retained the ban on baiting coyotes and hunting them with dogs.
The $130 million won’t provide property tax relief, but would pay for new and expanded programs.
Plugging teens’ legal access cannabis concentrate. Housing slow-down bill. Why won’t State Government do what the Legislature tells it to do?!
In the past month alone, two separate incidents have been reported by Burlington residents who stumbled upon these invasive trackers on their cars.
This week lawmakers in the House are set to look at divestment from carbon fuels, new funding for school construction projects, and more.
The Floor Report: 03/21/2024.
By meeting a slew of conditions, producers wouldn’t need inspections to sell raw chicken products from the farm, at farmers markets or to restaurants in VT.
Sponsoring Rep. deploys word salad to avoid stating truths about the bill.
The Senate passed an amended bill that, although less restrictive than the original version, could be “the end of hunting as we know it in Vermont,” one senator said. The Senate retained the ban on baiting coyotes and hunting them with dogs.
Changes to S.258 on Senate floor now.
The Senate banned flavored tobacco, approved a flood safety bill, and adjusted youth criminal justice laws.
A Northeast Kingdom legislator tells her colleagues on the floor just what she thinks about their plan to get Vermont to 100% zero carbon emissions for electricity.
The unrealism of the Renewable Energy Standard grows.
If the Senate says so this afternoon, parents will be one step closer to being in the dark about what books their children are reading.
How much of the Truth & Reparations process be shielded from public view?
The bill went nowhere last year but was passed out of committee at Friday’s crossover deadline.
