The conventional wisdom says wait as long as possible. Others insist you should collect every dollar you can, as early as you can. Who’s right? The answer depends on some surprisingly straightforward mathematics — and a few complications most people overlook.
2026 survey finds businesses raising prices, delaying hiring, and postponing investment amid mounting affordability, workforce, and housing pressures.
The organization said 61% of voters surveyed reported that their income is not keeping pace with living costs. The concern crossed partisan lines, including 63% of independents, 62% of Republicans and 60% of Democrats.
This era of easy access gave the gas towns a leg up that many other regions would never receive, laying the groundwork for a lingering disparity that remains today.
Gov. Phil Scott wondered aloud how a Vermonter in Newport should feel about it. Compass built the record. Over two years, nearly every discretionary move the state has made on homelessness and street disorder has landed in one county — the one with the highest incomes and a homelessness rate below the state average.
Data breaches have become increasingly common, exposing sensitive personal information such as Social Security numbers (SSNs), login credentials, and financial details. If you’ve been affected by a data breach, taking immediate action can help minimize potential damage and protect yourself from identity theft and fraud. Below are key steps to take to safeguard your identity and financial well-being.
Office for National Statistics figures and related studies show that when access to certain lethal means is tightly limited, the underlying drive to harm does not disappear; people simply turn to whatever remains available.
Vermont literally paying for Burlington’s failures.
Vermont state government will spend more than $9.3 billion this fiscal year — about $297 every second. A new ‘Spend-O-Meter’ page on FYIVT.com tracks that money in real time, follows it to its destination, and measures it against what Vermonters actually earn and pay. Everything here comes from public records, and every source is named.
The question used to be “where will we grow?”
The Vermont delegation is behind LIFT the BAR. Nobody has priced it.
As of this morning, there is a search bar at the top of FYIVT, and it does something Google does not: It searches only Vermont, including public information the major search engines cannot see.
Perhaps electrical grids are more complicated than the mandates.
Imagine what we could have showcased: the Green Mountain Boys, the independent Vermont Republic, maple syrup, dairy farms, our ski resorts, fall foliage, covered bridges, Lake Champlain, and the story of the first state admitted after the original thirteen colonies. The first state to ban slavery.
Because the question isn’t whether some borrowers are struggling. The question is whether taxpayers who never borrowed for college—or who worked multiple jobs to pay their own tuition, or who already sacrificed to repay their loans—should now be asked to pay someone else’s bills.
Unfunded public pensions killing Vermont, much as Gov. Scott predicted.
Three decades have passed. Vermont’s policymakers had every opportunity to read the data and adjust course. They didn’t.
The Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation is inviting the public to review the latest round of updates to the state’s wetland maps, a process that could carry real consequences for property owners whose land is newly mapped, remapped, or placed closer to regulated wetland areas.
When timelines and details matter
The quote was parody. The vote was real.
“If my choice of words offended some people, I understand that. But the truth is, my frustration doesn’t come from a bad place, ” Coester said in response to Dame’s condemnation of a profanity -laced critique of a reporter and lawmakers.
An advocacy group’s new poll put the issue at the center of the Chittenden County State’s Attorney race. The August vote turnout will be the real test.
Platner, wounded by yet another allegation of questionable behavior, avowed he’s not being pressured to drop out.
In any given year, roughly 1 in every 430 Black Vermonters is directly targeted in a bias-motivated crime. In a small, close-knit community, that’s not a distant statistic — it’s a neighbor, a coworker, a family member.
If Vermont’s climate policies cannot measurably affect the climate, and if the worst-case scenarios used to justify urgency are no longer considered plausible, why should Vermonters keep paying for the Global Warming Solutions Act and Clean Heat Standard?
A major new federal health report shows progress in some areas of senior health across the United States — but warns that mental health struggles, food insecurity, and drug-related deaths are rising at alarming rates among older adults.
The housing expansions in the package — a new village-center exemption and a longer timeline for the exemptions already in law — were deleted before the bill reached the Governor
A light at the end
And they double down GWSA’s “right to sue” provision.
A new study finds that driver behavior — not terrain, traffic, or infrastructure — explains the state’s disproportionately high fatal crash rate.
The agreement is called the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC), a multi-state pact designed to ensure that the winner of the national popular vote becomes president of the United States. Under the compact, participating states agree to award all of their electoral votes to the national popular vote winner, regardless of how their own state voted.
Vermont lawmakers are considering a bill that would require schools to adopt immigration protocols restricting when school officials may cooperate with federal immigration enforcement and when law enforcement officers may access nonpublic areas of school buildings.
Democrat-majority legislators continue to rail against the federal administration by advancing a proposed constitutional amendment and two bills that are suspiciously unconstitutional.
What Is the Laffer Curve? And how does it spell doom for Dem tax plans?
What Is Tianeptine and why is it showing up in U.S. stores?
The repeal of the “Road Rule” and Tier 3 was the easier decision, once the political math moved. What the Legislature builds in their place, and how it builds it, is the harder one. That work has just begun.
Three ounces destroyed a Brazilian neighborhood. The people who study this threat for a living don’t lose sleep over a missile from Tehran. They lose sleep over a shielded canister the size of a thermos that nobody screened.
This new 4% VIP surtax would target investment income, such as capital gains and dividends, for individuals with total income over specific thresholds,
Road costs are rising at 10% a year. Revenue is rising at 1.33%. The extra $15 on your registration hits a budget that is losing ground every year against the actual price of asphalt.
Five years later, state records show a more complicated outcome: Vermont’s office footprint grew, vacancy increased, and the state ultimately signed new leases to support a return to in-person work.
A new UVM study documents a dramatic shift in what’s killing northeastern trees. The debate over how Vermont should respond reveals a deep divide between science, policy, and philosophy.
The university with the lowest in-state enrollment percentages of any large public school in the country is asking the legislature to let it take $15 million from a $66 million state scholarship fund.
The Senate Education Committee wants to raise the formula’s starting price before it even begins.: By FY27 the base would be $16,575 under the Senate concept versus $15,936 under the law as written.
The state has set vital housing targets while lawmakers built a regulatory framework that may make those targets unreachable. The math has never been reconciled — and half the maps don’t yet exist.
Vermont lawmakers are advancing a major restructuring of how primary care is paid for, but the proposal is raising fundamental questions about cost, access, and how much of the system it can realistically change.
A veterinary sedative synthesized in clandestine labs is showing up in fentanyl at rapidly increasing rates, and it doesn’t respond to naloxone
Dean Roy is a 14-year-old freshman at Stowe High School who is running for governor of Vermont — something the state’s constitution permits, since it sets no minimum age for candidates. Roy didn’t join either major party. He founded his own, the Freedom and Unity Party; a refreshing departure from the two-party system.
“in order for us to have faith that the outcome of the election reflects the will of the people we need as many people as we can possibly get to vote. I think we should be aiming for 100% participation.,” Copeland-Hanzas said.
Although the amendment has been withdrawn and is expected to be taken up in Ways and Means, its implications remain important for Vermont’s business community.
The Vermont protests were not spontaneous local uprisings. They were coordinated through the national “No Kings” coalition — a network of roughly 500 groups with an estimated $3 billion in combined annual revenues — and included direct participation from radical socialist organizations tied to controversial national and international funding streams.
Under Mamdani’s expropriating death tax plan, once an estate hits $750,000 in value, the confiscatory 50% rate applies to all assets, not just the amount above that figure.
At issue is Vermont’s Universal Prekindergarten (UPK) system, which currently guarantees up to 10 hours per week of publicly funded preschool for most 3-, 4-, and 5-year-olds. The program, fully implemented in 2016, operates through a mix of public schools and private childcare providers.
Many legislators believe the bills will help children and adolescents that are uncomfortable talking to their parents about their mental health issues, and help children that are homeless and without guardians, but both bills cast a much wider net.
Vermont spends 72% of its child welfare budget on out-of-home placements, the third-highest in the US. It’s spending is fourth-lowest on preventive services at 2% and second-lowest on child protection
The State of Vermont wants bigger school districts. But legislators report widespread public resistance.
Today on Hot Off The Press at 11:05 AM on WDEV, we’ll be talking about cutting spending in Vermont State Government. Not just me talking – I want a conversation with you. I know you care about this. About your tax bills. About out of control spending. I will be attending the governor’s press conference at noon today and I want your questions. Your ideas. Please call in at 802-244-1777.
Frustrated residents say state’s focus on treatment has failed to stop supply of drugs devastating communities, where dealers are using short-term rentals as drug houses.
Vermont Democrats have introduced yet another sweeping elections bill — and once again, it comes with a familiar progressive feature: more lawsuits, more enforcement power, and more ways for municipalities to get dragged into court.
The bill creates a five-tier continuum of care ranging from high-barrier shelters with mandatory case management to permanent supportive housing, including repurposed hotels and motels.
Balint said the Democrat caucus of the U.S. House was shaken to the core with the murder (her words) of Alex Pretti by federal agents.
The bill, introduced by Rep. Leonora Dodge (D – Chittenden-23), proposes creating a new Legal Representation in Federal Immigration Proceedings Program within Vermont’s Office of Defender General. As written, the legislation declares it to be the public policy of the State of Vermont that covered individuals “should have the right to ongoing legal representation” in federal immigration cases.
A surge in homelessness and a 32% construction labor shortage have exposed Vermont’s housing crisis as a shelter emergency. Meanwhile, a transformation in off-site construction has created homes that are often higher quality and more energy efficient than traditional builds—at half the cost. So why do state and local regulations still treat them like the mobile homes of 1970?
Only 3 days of warning given for eviction, under the new proposed bill.
Vermonters use less total energy than the residents of any other state in the nation and their total energy consumption per capita is among the lowest five states. About 11% of Vermonters heat with wood, the highest share of any state, according to the EIA.
A fourth generation Vermonter, Graeter’s focus is on a return to granular fiscal oversight rather than the broad policy analysis that has characterized the office exiting auditor Doug Hoffer’s tenure.
House Bill H.545, introduced by Rep. Theresa Wood (D–Washington-Chittenden) and Rep. Alyssa Black (D–Chittenden-24), would shift the power to set immunization recommendations from federal agencies to the Vermont Department of Health. It would require all insurers to cover any immunization recommended by the commissioner with no copayments, coinsurance, or deductibles, and grant immunity from most civil and administrative liability to health professionals who administer those vaccines in accordance with state guidance.
As Vermont works toward a goal of 40,000 new housing units by 2030, lawmakers this year face a central question: will recently enacted tax reforms and infrastructure tools finally translate into shovels in the ground?
Act 181 does not change who owns the land. It does change who draws the lines that matter — and who has the final say when those lines do not match what towns and landowners thought their future would look like.
While national elections draw the most attention, many of the most immediate impacts on Vermonters — particularly school spending and local taxes — are decided earlier in the year, often with less public awareness.
AG Clark’s press releases often overstate her role in lawsuits led by bigger states. Yet, a 2025 ruling requires Vermont to join them to secure federal funds.
U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah has introduced legislation that would revive a long-dormant constitutional power: letters of marque and reprisal. In plain terms, the bill would allow the President of the United States—specifically President Trump, under this legislation—to authorize private American citizens and companies to seize cartel property and personnel outside U.S. borders, on land or at sea.
What the Attorney General does not explain is why federal officials might be less than enthusiastic about writing those checks. A few possibilities come to mind.
What the research actually says
Vermont’s Use Value Appraisal Program—commonly known as the Current Use Program—has been a central part of the state’s land management approach for more than four decades.
How a 24-unit project reveals a statewide crisis in cost, regulation, and taxpayer inefficiency
Vermont is facing an estimated 12% increase in education property taxes next year unless lawmakers again step in with a General Fund subsidy.
State workers back in the office, the Property Tax Letter, and the vote on Obamacare.
Victoria Thompson, a defendant facing a “death resulting” charge—a legal classification usually associated with the most severe penalties in the opioid crisis—will avoid any long-term incarceration.
The debate in Pittsford wasn’t about personalities or local politics. It reflected a broader question confronting nearly every town in Vermont: Where does state law end and agency preference begin?
The talking points for all sides are taking shape for next month’s likely congressional struggle over the future of subsidized health insurance – a/k/a Obamacare.
Neither the lengthy time frame nor the details were what either most legislators or Gov. Phil Scott had in mind when they passed the law this spring.
The task force’s 10-to-1 split meant the legislature controlled nearly all the seats, while the Governor—a primary advocate for mandatory consolidation—had minimal influence.
New eligibility requirements for the state’s town tuitioning program under Act 73, which went into effect on July 1, blocks all religious schools from receiving public funds. Mid Vermont Christian school (MVCS) and families affected by the requirements are challenging the new law.
Inflation, rising equipment costs, and the 2025 phaseout of legacy refrigerants are driving up the price of heat pump projects, while workforce shortages continue to pose challenges.
The Trump administration decision came just a few days after Grist reported that Vermont lost track of millions in FEMA funding it received for July 2024 flooding as the state burned through cash faster than anticipated. Vague contract terms, pricey consultants, and poor oversight appear to be at least some of the culprits.
For the last several years, state politics has been defined by the dynamic between Governor Scott and the Democratic legislature. If Scott decides not to run, that entire dynamic vanishes.
A Paradox in Policy and Politics: While all of Vermont’s New England neighbors have passed Holocaust education mandates, Vermont lawmakers have actively chosen to become the regional outlier.
“This is not a time for credit. This is a time to think about American policy,” said Sanders, claiming “The entire infrastructure of Gaza… have been destroyed under Trump,” and criticizing $22 billion given to Netanyahu’s government for policies that “have been starving children.”
The $100,000 penalty, when viewed against the backdrop of multi-million dollar settlements, raises an important question: Was this a significant punishment or just the cost of doing business?
Trump Media makes up a minuscule 0.02% of the Russell 3000 total index—If its stock value went to zero tomorrow, the pension fund would lose less than two-hundredths of one percent.
The platforms most commonly cited include Discord, Telegram, Roblox, and Minecraft, though experts caution that the group can surface on any platform where children can interact online.
Unless bold measures are taken to attract a younger and more diverse population, the state risks facing a future that is both expensive and grim.
A major obstacle to implementing the program is the Legislature’s requirement that a law enforcement officer review the camera images and issue the civil violations.
Trump’s proposed executive order has stirred a partisan storm. But step back from the slogans, and the evidence points to a simpler truth: voter ID laws may impose a minor hurdle for some, but they have not prevented record participation. Instead, they may serve a larger purpose—ensuring that every legitimate voter’s choice is protected, and that lawful ballots are not canceled out by unlawful or invalid ones.
Act 21 appropriates $1 million for fiscal year 2026. That money goes from the State Treasurer to a nonprofit debt buyer, which purchases old hospital accounts for pennies on the dollar and then cancels them. Patients who qualify — Vermont residents with incomes under 400 percent of the federal poverty line (FPL), or whose debt exceeds five percent of household income (with no income limit) — get letters saying their debt has been forgiven.
According to the organization’s official announcement, the elimination of 15 positions stem directly from a $2 million shortfall caused by a recent federal rescission bill that eliminated key funding for public broadcasting.
Unpacking the hype, limitations, and the dawn of the human comeback.
With a total score of just 4.38/10, Vermont ranks as the state least likely to be labeled a ‘gold digging’ hotspot. Despite having a relatively solid average annual income of $66,330, the state’s small population means there are only 16,000 millionaire households and no billionaires.
Act 73 may have redrawn the districts. But the fate of Vermont’s small schools will be decided locally—and likely soon. Act 168 gives communities a legal path to protect what they value. But the state won’t do it for them.
If the debate is going to happen, let’s at least base it on facts — not furry blue nostalgia.
