Four months in, Vermont’s budget Is balanced—but the real fight might just Be delayed
Soulia: Political theater over policy
Gervais: Vermont’s fiscal mess
Per the Joint Fiscal Office 2025 report, Vermont has the sixth highest per capita spending, at $15,426, yet when we look at results: Johnny can’t read, and our roads are crumbling. Let’s slash bloat and restore sanity
Dr. Oscar Peterson and the Vermont Civil Defense Division
Dr. Oscar S. Peterson Jr. believed that nuclear radiation played an important role in the future, in its capacity to extend the lives of his patients, as well as its ability to cause irreparable harm. His work specializing in radiation therapy at the University of Vermont led to an invitation to serve as Vermont’s Radiological Consultant to the Civil Defense Division of the Vermont Department of Public Safety.
Roper: Vermont has a $9.1 BILLION budget
Ronald Reagan once quipped that government is like a baby, an endless appetite on one end, and no discipline on the other. No place lives up to – or down to as the case may be — that analogy more so than Vermont.
Keelan: three out-of-control engines heading full speed to collision and disaster
The driverless engines of State
List or no list, DHS pushing on against sanctuary jurisdictions, Noem tells Fox News
The 3,000 member National Sheriffs Organization said the list was published without their knowledge and offers little direction on how sheriffs should proceed.
BREAKING: State of Vermont cited by Department of Homeland Security as ‘sanctuary jurisdiction defying federal immigration law’
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.
Breaking: Education finance bill compromise under discussion – Legislature could adjourn today
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.
Digital wildfire: NotPetya, the most destructive cyberattack in history
How Russia weaponized America’s hacking tools to burn down the internet, and how Vermont lays vulnerable
House passes Gender X license bill
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.
Soulia: S.124: A decade of drowning in Vermont’s water policy
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.
Harrison: Sausage-makers grinding out housing, school funding bills
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.
Roper: Unless it lowers taxes, vote NO on the education “reform” bill
Don’t just do something for the sake of doing something.
Soulia: Is 600,000 too small to count?
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?
Legislators preview enviro bills for next year
A House committee recently heard the introduction of seven new bills covering five topics legislators hope to tackle.
Soulia: Why won’t DCF disclose who’s using the system?
Department refuses to release even anonymized data about where recipients came from — or if they’re from Vermont at all.
Burlington, Montpelier, others get downtown dough
Installation of streetscape amenities along Main Street in Burlington include benches, bike racks, a bus shelter, and granite elevation indicators.
Roper: Fate of disastrous EV cars & truck mandates rests with Governor
Desperate calls for Scott to delay unrealistic, logistically impossible GWSA requirements with Executive Order.
State IT projects face closer oversight under bill
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.
Rodgers: Taxing veterans?
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.
‘State will fight lawsuits,’ says lead sponsor of Climate Superfund Bill
Supporters of Act 122 want the Legislature to budget $700,000 to implement the ‘groundbreaking’ law intended to Make Big Oil Pay.’
Keelan: Legislature keeps paying for consultants
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.
Roper: Climate activist admits no real savings from “Social Cost of Carbon”
If there’s any benefit at all, it doesn’t get back to the people paying the bills.
Roper: Democrats – again – block efforts to repeal/reform unpopular climate laws
Special interests have issued their marching orders, and the Democrats are obeying.
State launches Paid Family and Medical Leave enrollment for individuals
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.
Soulia: Vermont’s $78 million question
Vermont Employment Growth Incentive program quietly extended without a vote
Proposed farmer relief fund for floods and more could now include loggers
Over the last two years, “persistently rainy conditions made many forested areas too wet to harvest,” a logging industry rep told legislators.
Scott wouldn’t sign current Ed. Reform bill, aide says
Administration wants lawmakers to decrease spending and timeline for implementation before signing education reform bill
McGuinness: Hypocrisy of House child abuse resolution
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.
Roper: Now a $17 million tax increase on beer, wine, & liquor?!
It’s enough to drive you to drink.
Soulia: PCB panic? A closer look at VT’s extreme school air standards
The EPA says 600 nanograms is safe. Vermont closes classrooms at 100. What do they know that the rest of the country doesn’t?
Homelessness up by 212% in VT since 2020 – tops in nation
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.”
Soulia: Aid on autopilot
Vermont grows programs without data or limits
Former lawmaker/Navy Officer challenges Scott admin claim of lawful cooperation with feds
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.
Roper: Could Federal spending cuts end VT vote-by-mail?
Or will the policy expand to cover school board elections and more?
Local food program seeks state money amid funding worries
Farmers say it helps secure their bottom line, and officials in and outside the Legislature say it’s vital to curbing hunger.
Debate surfaces over Vermont’s for-profit prison contracts
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.
Private donors save DOGE’d Vermont history program
Multiple private donors, including Marilyn Blackwell and George Burrill, stepped forward with generous contributions to underwrite the program through October.
Vermont cops can’t enforce federal civil immigration law
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.
Vermont Senate leader calls federal arrest ‘fascist, authoritarian’
Senate leaders call for governor to stop allowing feds to house detainees in VT prisons
With Vermont sicker than ever, insurers and hospitals struggle to stay afloat
“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.
Harrison: Moving Day
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.
Statehouse talks center on landowner concerns with stormwater regs
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.
Roper: Democrats’ education finance proposal is a betrayal
Voters want tax relief, but Dem plan spends MORE.
Roper: “Make Big Oil Pay!” flounders
Lawmakers can’t open $ million-plus spigot to pay for hopeless lawsuit.
Lawmakers look to expand unpaid time off
The bill would guarantee employees can take two weeks of unpaid time off from work after the death of a family member.
Murray: Building a stronger Vermont
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.
Roper: Special interests versus the Children
“Reform” is propping up a failing system, not fixing it.
Soulia: When good intentions backfire
The revisited hidden costs of Vermont’s Plastic Bag Ban, and how this hurts Vermont’s environment.
Geoengineering ban discussed in House Environment Committee
The bill specifically includes language on cloud seeding because as Representative Gregg Burt (R-Cabot) stated, Vermont doesn’t need more rain.
Soulia: Why don’t we move the state capitol to Burlington?
Until balance is restored, the Capitol may still be in Montpelier — but increasingly, Vermont’s future is being written somewhere else.
Lawmaker and former Teacher of the Year says special needs students make large class sizes difficult
Rep. Beth Quimby, R-Lyndon, suggested that where there are many special needs students in a classroom, there can sometimes be help.
Keelan: Will we be losing our high school?
Education spending is at a breaking point for many Vermont real estate taxpayers. And the Legislature just passes the buck yet again.
Green Mountain Care Board: Struggling insurance company passing high-interest loan costs onto customers
As Vermont’s hospitals struggle financially, a bill by the House Healthcare Committee would have the state oversee financial records.
House school reform bill would set $13,200 block grant per student
A key component is a $13,200 block grant-per-student proposal that could require big adjustments for high spending schools.
Harrison: At Crossover – State House half full or half empty
Depending on one’s perspective we might look at various issues as making progress or going in the wrong direction.
Detrans organizer wants apology from VT Democrat leaders for ‘attack’ statement
“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 appoints 102 to boards and commissions
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.
Soulia: Unfunded budget pressures clash with Governor’s FY2025 spending plan
Governor Phil Scott’s proposed $8.6 billion budget prioritizes housing, public safety, and education, but leaves some critical obligations underfunded.
Copeland-Hanzas: Celebrate Civic Learning Week, March 10-14
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.
Beck: The canaries are getting loud
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.
Lawmakers look for more time on broadband bills
Two House bills would bar service providers from deceptive business practices and require them to offer cheap broadband plans.
MacDonald: VT wants to put more women in harms way
Lawmakers claim that they are making prostitution “not illegal” while pretending they are also protecting sex workers from human trafficking.
State takes abuse survivor, ‘protected’ address substitution online
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.
Roper: Senate Democrats block vote to repeal Clean Heat Standard
Vermonters expected quick action in 2025 to wipe Act 18 (the Clean Heat Standard law) from the books. That has not happened.
GOP Senate, House leaders tell Town Meeting voters they’re working on Clean Heat repeal, lower taxes
Senate, House GOP leaders pledge tax reform, Clean Heat repeal
Principal tells Senators 15-18 students the “magic number” for class size
Rutland’s Sarah Tetzlaff touched on some of the disadvantages of going too small.
Bipartisan bill would allow purchase of medical debts with public funds
Similar efforts to buy out student loans at the national level have gotten stalled in federal courts.
Governor’s office puts out education “transformation proposal” to mixed response
The governor’s office has put forth a comprehensive education overhaul plan that would uproot both the economics and governance of public schools.
In one day, Healthcare Committee sees 18 bills on healthcare rights, vaccines, more
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.
BREAKING: Gov. Scott welcomes Vice President Vance and family
“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.
ANR: “No significant change” in fuel consumption despite “hundreds of millions” invested in green tech
Sales of gasoline and diesel fuel for transportation may have actually increased, a state report says.
Roper: GWSA transportation mandates will cost more than $177M per year
Tax on gas & diesel could start at 26 cents per gallon.
Roper: VT Democrats need to fish or cut bait on climate policies
Either pass laws that will meet GWSA mandates or repeal the mandates.
McGuinness: Statewide Healthcare bill introduced
The Senate Committee on Health & Welfare discussed a bill to advance a statewide health care delivery system on February 11
Bill aims to restrict tuition costs for public elementary schools
School tuition has been a hot-button issue for the Green Mountain State. The average public elementary school tuition in Vermont is $19,400.
New bill seeks “fair standards and fair process” for school closures
A new bill seeks to formalize the always-controversial process of closing a community’s public elementary school.
Vermont DOGE “not a bad idea,” says Gov. Scott
Vermont had its own version of DOGE pre-Covid. “It’s not a bad idea to reinstitute that,” Scott said.
After Covid population influx, too few moving to VT to offset the dying
Thinktank: “Policymakers should proceed with caution” concerning migration trends
Klar: Vermont tutors illegal aliens on how to slip the grip of ICE
Vermont, an outspoken bastion of sanctuary protections, has created a Task Force on the Federal Transition Panel.
Guv’s school reform plan gives “additional consideration to school choice”
The governor’s top education official spoke to lawmakers on Wednesday on their new five-district school governance proposal.
AG Clark sues Trump, Musk, DOGE
The attorneys general argue that Musk’s influence threatens billions in federal funding for law enforcement, education, healthcare, and other public programs.
Vermont would take ‘first logical step’ with new AI bill, says Secretary of State
“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.”
Krowinski: Education transformation will take all of us
One challenge for Vermont has risen above all others: the state of our public education system.
With just three investigators, Human Rights Commission seeks relief from legislators
“It’s a really gut-wrenching situation for all the parties involved,” said the commission’s executive director.
Bill limits road salt to curb chloride pollution
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.
Roper: Pucker up for kissing your sister
Thoughts on Education and Property Tax Reform, Part 1
Whitworth: Punching myself in the face
“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.
For Bennington historic site, a monumental funding challenge
Bennington Battle Monument is saturated with water and in urgent need of $40 million restoration.
Trump orders/Vermont ed policies clash over DEI
Vermont state policies and White House executive orders present potential showdowns concerning social justice, climate policies, and more.
Health Commissioner Levine retires
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.
Flannery: VT Democrats should heed grim Mike Bloomberg warning on education
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.
25-school district proposal targets class size of 18
There can be exceptions to these numbers when concerning for example students who fall into special education categories that require more attention and resources.
Scott promises ‘disciplined, measured’ approach to Trump edicts
‘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.
Soulia: Vermont’s “temporary” hotel voucher program
Originally designed to provide shelter during severe weather, the program’s cost has skyrocketed to tens of millions of dollars annually.
GOP carbon policy “wishlist” bills introduced
Getting hearings so early represents progress compared to how the issues raised by these bills were downplayed or ignored last session under the Supermajority.
Lawmakers give 25-district counter-proposal to Governor’s 5-district model
Sponsors are Rep. Matthew Birong, D-Vergennes, and Rep. Edye Graning, D-Jericho. It was first introduced on the House floor last week.
‘Shock value’: Proposed school district size baffles local education officials statewide
To ensure a degree of local input, Scott is calling for creation of local school advisory councils, to “promote high levels of community engagement.”
New school construction bill prioritizes schools with “excessive reliance on fossil fuels”
The State of Vermont is looking to start a dedicated fund for school construction, something the state has lacked for decades.
Soulia: Selective accountability: Why is VT only targeting law enforcement?
While accountability is essential, Act 124 unfairly singles out law enforcement officers while ignoring judges, attorneys, and legislators.
