The House will consider bills to clamp down on fossil fuel investment while waiving the permit process for large-ish battery storage systems.
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.
We should examine the twisted ways this legislature has “shielded” children from danger.
These homeschoolers give me hope for the future and I believe they will continue to stay informed.
Money bills – like Dr. Dynasaur for adults up to 26 – face Crossover this week.
Seeking tax relief for property owners, the House tax committee is looking to the Cloud and short-term-rentals.
One of only two Black Reps accuses colleagues of “dehumanizing Black and LGBTQ adults.”
The Senate has approved another year of funding for the Salisbury fish hatchery.
A Senate committee has approved tougher conditions of release and more latitude for judges to impose bail.
The Act 250 exemption for urban housing development won’t take effect until at least 2027 – and then under tight regulatory control.
Senior senators squabble over health care bill that includes minor consent for vax.
Washington district constituents approached their senator after they were turned away from a business because they only carried cash.
The controversial Fish & Wildlife bill was passed out of a policy committee and now is in the Senate’s money committee. And a flavored tobacco ban may or may not have the votes to pass in the House.
Tuesday the Senate gave preliminary approval to a bill that would allow some non-citizens to access VSAC advancement grants.
The bill requires board applicants have “a record and reputation for excellent character and integrity,” off-putting language for someone not from a traditional Vermont background, an equity official says.
S.258 is strongly supported by anti-hunting and fishing organizations, but passage on the Senate floor is not certain.
Bills would keep parents from knowing which library books their kids check out and their STD vaccination status.
The Legislature knows replacing crumbling old schools over the next two decades will cost $6 billion. Where will that money come from?
The legislative pay hike, Fish & Wildlife Board changes, controlling sheriffs, and above all school funding all have fallen or will likely do so because the Supermajority wants to stay the Supermajority.
House lawmakers moving along Restorative Justice reforms, $1.7 million for EV chargers, new penalties for retail theft and more
Crop transitions aren’t easy and governments should provide support and assistance.
Like its counterpart committee in the House, the Vermont Senate committee on the environment is rife with references to policies promoted by the United Nations.
So far, no interest in the vaunted “check back” they hyped.
One drone operator understands the lawmakers’ concern, but said he thinks details in the bill are too arbitrary.
The changes address problems prompted by education officials.
Remember when the Legislature said it would reform Act 250 to allow more housing? Apparently the Supermajority leaders can’t either.
Dispensaries ensure safety of customers, kids in ways retail shops can’t…or won’t.
Legislators are discussing a new bill that would prohibit the blame of sexual assault survivors for their assault as a legal defense in civil cases.
Senate to look at vaccines without parental consent, changing Fish and Wildlife Board, getting more nurses, and more.
A House bill now under committee review would make it much easier to charge a suspect with felony shoplifting – but would reduce the sentence.
Vermont doctors argue the risk to mental health if THC caps are eliminated. The marijuana industry claims keeping the current cap will be bad for business.
Unfortunately, it leaves much uncertainty and looks like a real “Show Trial Killer”.
If seniors on social security are expected to get by with the 3.2% cost of living adjustment this year, our state government should be able to do the same.
In a case with ramifications for S.258, a judge has ruled in favor of the Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife coyote regulations.
You can almost hear the governor saying “I told you so'” to the Legislature.
A documents search of the Vermont Legislature website shows a strong U.N. advisory presence – especially in one key committee. And just what is a ‘polycrisis?’
Opponents of S.258, reconfiguring the Fish & Wildlife Board, speak out in this VDC video of a Tuesday, February 20 State House gathering.
The lead sponsor of the bill says the legislation is important for residents in areas likely to suffer flooding in the future.
A frustrated – or just rude – state senator interrupts the testimony of a Vermont Family Alliance advocate. See brief YouTube clip.
The same influential lobby group that wants to remove local control from energy siting also wants ratepayers to pay more to fund the reconstruction of Vermont’s energy grid.
Senate committees this week will ponder amending the Constitution to control sheriffs and make gender ID a protected civil right.
The Legislature’s War on the Age of Consent is fought on the battlefields of schools, libraries, voting booths, and health clinics
Two House committees punt on the billion-dollar price-tag of an energy bill rumored to be ‘the Speaker’s bill drafted by a renewable energy lobbying organization.
Most bills need to be approved in their committee of jurisdiction by March 15 in order to be taken up for a full vote this year. Committees will be pushing hard until then.
S.258 would seize rule-making power from the Fish & Wildlife Board, expand the role of non-hunters, and prohibit coyote hunting with bait and dogs.
Contrary to what biologists at Vermont Fish & Wildlife, and some hunters may say, coyotes and other predators don’t explode in population if they’re not aggressively removed.
A new House bill takes the option out of the local option tax.
“We should learn from the failed experiments in places like San Francisco and Oregon, where even they are thinking of repealing many of the measures they’ve put in place,” Scott said.
On Wednesday lawmakers in the House Transportation Committee discussed a bill that is meant to further nudge Vermonters into electric vehicles…or give up on driving altogether.
H.297 expands presumption of work-related PTSD.
No funding to pay people to design the program, let alone run it!
Senate seeks solutions to students’ declining reading scores.
No other state-funded employment directory requires employers to house workers hired under its auspices.
The bill aims to prevent Vermont from becoming a place for puppy farms or mills — commercial dog breeding operations that raise animals in poor conditions.
The proposed transportation plan transitions away from gasoline-powered vehicles.
House committee steps back from looming school tax hike, while another committee advances renewable power bill that could cost ratepayers $1 billion.
The bill would dramatically limit the use of electronic devices, digital platforms and more in all Vermont schools.
Revenue for planning and implementing universal afterschool and summer programming will come from the legal sale of cannabis.
S.160 passes along the duty to pay the lost tax revenue from the municipal property taxpayers to all Vermont property taxpayers.
The looming 20.5% property tax increase is impacting legislative and state budget decisions in the State House, as legislative leaders and Scott administration seek to save money – even threatening favored policy initiatives.
Lott noted the stricter gun laws are not the reason for Canada’s lower crime rates, contrary to the assumption of Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky.
If a business is culpable, H.614 allows police to seize any equipment it used for illegal activity.
Cellphones in school are a source of distraction and bullying. Best to ban their use there, a Rutland County senator says.
Carbon credits for utilities using fossil fuels? A pro-nature, pro-biodiversity Act 250? No guns in public buildings? How about an additional property tax? House committees will consider them all this week.
Bill would require more updates to endangered species list, restrict taking species from habitats.
This bill—just like the emperor—has no clothes. It won’t do much to solve the housing problem, or to help the homeless or even most Vermonters. It’s corporate cronyism.
Vermont is considering new auto theft bills.
A new bill would provide loan forgiveness to Vermont Law School graduates who pledge their services to the State.
Lawmakers to give cronies literal license to steal.
A Vermont firearms policy expert warned that this bill could be used to suppress peaceful demonstrations.
Due to the reporting and video, it is clear the State of Vermont is collecting my data directly from fuel companies that I privately buy from.
Children 12 and over could receive treatment for STDs without parental consent if a bill under Senate committee review this week becomes law.
Not every bill in the Legislature is a bad idea…..
The Vermont Defend the Guard Act is part of a nationwide effort to return control of state militias to the states and to the U.S. Congress as specified in the U.S. Constitution
The General Assembly (G.A.) cannot enforce us to abandon our cars or oil heaters.