The entire state of Vermont and the cities of Burlington, Montpelier, and Winooski have been labeled as ‘Sanctuary Jurisdictions’ by the department of Homeland Security, and now face federal funding cuts under Trump’s illegal immigration crackdown.
A House Education Committee member this morning told VDC that the H.454 Conference Committee is taking seriously Gov. Phil Scott’s concerns about affordability and implementation timeline in the current House/Senate versions of this session’s landmark legislation: transformation of Vermont’s public education financing and governance.
How Russia weaponized America’s hacking tools to burn down the internet, and how Vermont lays vulnerable
This Vermont bill is a response to a January 20 executive order issued by signed by President Donald Trump, mandating that federal agencies, including the State Department, recognize only two sexes (male and female) based on biological sex assigned at birth, effectively eliminating the “X” gender marker option for passports and prohibiting gender marker changes that do not align with birth certificates.
Ten years and over $200 million later, Vermont is right back where it started—struggling to comply with the Clean Water Act, while farmers, taxpayers, and lawmakers all try to catch their breath.
The legislative process is sometimes likened to sausage making, not pretty to watch. That was certainly true last week at the State House with education reform and a major housing bill being considered.
Don’t just do something for the sake of doing something.
In a recently released open letter to Governor Phil Scott, health educator and Vermont Stands Up director Amy Hornblass raises a stark question: why has Vermont’s Department of Health not investigated the state’s persistent surge in excess deaths since the onset of COVID-19 restrictions?
A House committee recently heard the introduction of seven new bills covering five topics legislators hope to tackle.
Department refuses to release even anonymized data about where recipients came from — or if they’re from Vermont at all.
Installation of streetscape amenities along Main Street in Burlington include benches, bike racks, a bus shelter, and granite elevation indicators.
Desperate calls for Scott to delay unrealistic, logistically impossible GWSA requirements with Executive Order.
It comes from the House Committee on Energy and Digital Infrastructure, newly formed this session in part to prioritize digital technology initiatives that had been overshadowed.
Everyone in this country owes our military veterans a debt of gratitude. It’s long past time for the Legislature to pay that debt forward.
Supporters of Act 122 want the Legislature to budget $700,000 to implement the ‘groundbreaking’ law intended to Make Big Oil Pay.’
If there is one constant I have witnessed since becoming a Vermont resident in 1988, it is the Legislature’s assigning State agency tasks to costly, out-of-state consultants.
If there’s any benefit at all, it doesn’t get back to the people paying the bills.
Special interests have issued their marching orders, and the Democrats are obeying.
For the first time, self-employed individuals and workers without employer-provided coverage can voluntarily enroll in the paid leave program, which offers partial income replacement during qualifying family or medical events.
Vermont Employment Growth Incentive program quietly extended without a vote
Over the last two years, “persistently rainy conditions made many forested areas too wet to harvest,” a logging industry rep told legislators.
Administration wants lawmakers to decrease spending and timeline for implementation before signing education reform bill
The only way to end this long train of abuses and usurpations is for more voters to become aware of the fact that their state legislators’ policies harm, not help them; and to recruit and elect new leadership that respects the sacred family institution and supports legislation that fortifies parental rights.
It’s enough to drive you to drink.
The EPA says 600 nanograms is safe. Vermont closes classrooms at 100. What do they know that the rest of the country doesn’t?
The report, by the free-enterprise Common Sense Institute, also called into question most of the state’s “housing first” approach, saying it “may not be the best approach to addressing this challenge.”
Vermont grows programs without data or limits
Tate is a former Republican two-term representative from Killington in the Vermont House from 2015 to 2017. During his second term, he resigned his seat to serve overseas in the Navy.
Or will the policy expand to cover school board elections and more?
Farmers say it helps secure their bottom line, and officials in and outside the Legislature say it’s vital to curbing hunger.
Lawmakers and officials agree it isn’t ideal to imprison Vermonters out of state, but they say bringing them back would put in-state prisons dangerously over capacity.
Multiple private donors, including Marilyn Blackwell and George Burrill, stepped forward with generous contributions to underwrite the program through October.
The state board that makes and enforces policing policies today emphasized and clarified when Vermont police may and may not cooperate with federal immigration authorities.
Senate leaders call for governor to stop allowing feds to house detainees in VT prisons
“In 2024, claims were up more than 15% from the previous year as part of an unprecedented and sustained three-year cost surge,” the report states. The report does not speculate as to why there was a sudden uptick starting three years ago.
At the State House, you might refer to last Friday as “Moving Day” when the session’s big issue of education reform passed the House and is now moving to the Senate.
Around 100 of the 700 3-acre sites in Vermont are subdivisions, but the state doesn’t know exactly how many people live on those parcels.
Voters want tax relief, but Dem plan spends MORE.
Lawmakers can’t open $ million-plus spigot to pay for hopeless lawsuit.
The bill would guarantee employees can take two weeks of unpaid time off from work after the death of a family member.
For years, Montpelier’s answer to any problem has been more spending—paid for by Vermonters already stretched to the breaking point. Gov. Scott rejects that.
“Reform” is propping up a failing system, not fixing it.
The revisited hidden costs of Vermont’s Plastic Bag Ban, and how this hurts Vermont’s environment.
The bill specifically includes language on cloud seeding because as Representative Gregg Burt (R-Cabot) stated, Vermont doesn’t need more rain.
Until balance is restored, the Capitol may still be in Montpelier — but increasingly, Vermont’s future is being written somewhere else.
Rep. Beth Quimby, R-Lyndon, suggested that where there are many special needs students in a classroom, there can sometimes be help.
Education spending is at a breaking point for many Vermont real estate taxpayers. And the Legislature just passes the buck yet again.
As Vermont’s hospitals struggle financially, a bill by the House Healthcare Committee would have the state oversee financial records.
A key component is a $13,200 block grant-per-student proposal that could require big adjustments for high spending schools.
Depending on one’s perspective we might look at various issues as making progress or going in the wrong direction.
“I would like to see a public apology from Vermont Senate and House Democrats for mischaracterizing our event as an attack on the transgender community,” Rene McGuinness said.
Governor Phil Scott’s office today announced a range of appointments made in the last two quarters of 2024. Beginning April 1, appointments will be announced on a quarterly basis.
Governor Phil Scott’s proposed $8.6 billion budget prioritizes housing, public safety, and education, but leaves some critical obligations underfunded.
if we don’t know where to start when we want to fix something that is broken in our communities then we become easy to divide, and the problems persist.
The work is very difficult and at times overwhelming, but it is what every elected official signed up for when they asked Vermonters for their vote.
Two House bills would bar service providers from deceptive business practices and require them to offer cheap broadband plans.
Lawmakers claim that they are making prostitution “not illegal” while pretending they are also protecting sex workers from human trafficking.
Participants can vote, obtain a driver’s license, get married, register births, and receive their mail without fear that those publicly available records will put them at risk.
Vermonters expected quick action in 2025 to wipe Act 18 (the Clean Heat Standard law) from the books. That has not happened.
Senate, House GOP leaders pledge tax reform, Clean Heat repeal
Rutland’s Sarah Tetzlaff touched on some of the disadvantages of going too small.
Similar efforts to buy out student loans at the national level have gotten stalled in federal courts.
The governor’s office has put forth a comprehensive education overhaul plan that would uproot both the economics and governance of public schools.
Each bill was given about 5-10 minutes per presenter in the marathon committee session. To see all 18 bills, look at their Feb. 21 (Friday) agenda.
“I hope Vermonters remember the Vice President is here on a family trip with his young children and, while we may not always agree, we should be respectful,” he continued.
Sales of gasoline and diesel fuel for transportation may have actually increased, a state report says.
Tax on gas & diesel could start at 26 cents per gallon.
Either pass laws that will meet GWSA mandates or repeal the mandates.
The Senate Committee on Health & Welfare discussed a bill to advance a statewide health care delivery system on February 11
School tuition has been a hot-button issue for the Green Mountain State. The average public elementary school tuition in Vermont is $19,400.
A new bill seeks to formalize the always-controversial process of closing a community’s public elementary school.
Vermont had its own version of DOGE pre-Covid. “It’s not a bad idea to reinstitute that,” Scott said.
Thinktank: “Policymakers should proceed with caution” concerning migration trends
Vermont, an outspoken bastion of sanctuary protections, has created a Task Force on the Federal Transition Panel.
The governor’s top education official spoke to lawmakers on Wednesday on their new five-district school governance proposal.
The attorneys general argue that Musk’s influence threatens billions in federal funding for law enforcement, education, healthcare, and other public programs.
“I don’t think it’s a partisan issue,” Copeland Hanzas said. “It’s really just to make sure that elections are honest and accurate and fair.”
One challenge for Vermont has risen above all others: the state of our public education system.
“It’s a really gut-wrenching situation for all the parties involved,” said the commission’s executive director.
The goal is to reduce the environmental impact of road salt while also aiming to save money for municipalities and contractors by optimizing salt usage.
Thoughts on Education and Property Tax Reform, Part 1
“I’m gonna flap my arms and fly over the Statehouse dome. And if I should fail, I will punch myself in the face.” That is the essence of Vermont’s Global Warming Solutions Act.
Bennington Battle Monument is saturated with water and in urgent need of $40 million restoration.
Vermont state policies and White House executive orders present potential showdowns concerning social justice, climate policies, and more.
Dr. Levine, 71, of Shelburne was first appointed by Governor Scott in 2017 and is currently one of the Administration’s longest-tenured commissioners. He led his department through the COVID-19 pandemic and has served as a key advisor on public health matters.
Vermont, already burdened with some of the country’s highest taxes and biggest per-student spending, is studying reforms at the state legislature this session.
There can be exceptions to these numbers when concerning for example students who fall into special education categories that require more attention and resources.
‘We need to stay focused on Vermont and remain disciplined as we distinguish between what is fact and what is rhetoric before we react to any change in federal policy or law,” Scott said.
Originally designed to provide shelter during severe weather, the program’s cost has skyrocketed to tens of millions of dollars annually.
Getting hearings so early represents progress compared to how the issues raised by these bills were downplayed or ignored last session under the Supermajority.
Sponsors are Rep. Matthew Birong, D-Vergennes, and Rep. Edye Graning, D-Jericho. It was first introduced on the House floor last week.
To ensure a degree of local input, Scott is calling for creation of local school advisory councils, to “promote high levels of community engagement.”
The State of Vermont is looking to start a dedicated fund for school construction, something the state has lacked for decades.
While accountability is essential, Act 124 unfairly singles out law enforcement officers while ignoring judges, attorneys, and legislators.
Governor Scott noted the importance in not just funding existing programs by throwing money at those that don’t function properly, but actually fixing programs.
Their data showed that a higher percentage of healthcare costs in Vermont go to administrative costs compared to similar providers in other states.
“Taxpayers also made it clear they want us to fix broken systems not just fund them,” Scott said.
Ram Hinsdale will serve as Vermont Senate majority leader starting Jan. 8, after beating incumbent Majority Leader Alison Clarkson, D-Windsor, in a close contest.
CHS may have flatlined, but we’re still stuck with the GWSA mandates.
VT legislators propose local zoning Board of Appeals
