By Amy Ash Nixon, VTDigger.org The House-proposed statewide property tax increase is lower than the rate of growth that the Legislature passed last year. The state needed to generate $50 million to support increases in statewide education spending for the […]
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State labor costs likely to affect services, administration secretary says
By Elizabeth Hewitt, VTDigger.org As the Shumlin administration and the Vermont State Employees’ Association debate how the state will manage $10.8 million in personnel and labor cost reductions, the impact of those cuts remains unclear. Late last month, the House […]
Small and Rural Schools Caucus forms in House
By Amy Ash Nixon, VTDigger.org As a bill that requires larger school systems works its way through the Legislature, a group of House lawmakers has formed a Small and Rural Schools Caucus to focus on issues that could affect their […]
Bill banning teacher strikes approved by House education committee
By Amy Ash Nixon, VTDigger.org A bill that would prohibit Vermont public school teachers from striking passed the House Education Committee on an 8-3 vote Tuesday, March 17. Under the bill, teachers cannot strike and school boards cannot impose contracts. […]
Elementary students propose Gilfeather turnip as state veggie
By Amy Ash Nixon, VTDigger.org Wardsboro Elementary School children want a turnip to be the state vegetable—the Gilfeather turnip, grown in and around Wardsboro. On Tuesday, a dozen students told the House Committee on Forest and Agriculture Products to consider […]
Decision on closing call centers put off ‘til September
Rutland station’s future to be determined By Erin Mansfield, VTDigger.org The House Appropriations Committee approved a stopgap measure Monday that puts off a decision on closing selected state police call centers until mid-September. The plan uses $425,000 in funding from […]
Towns awarded $4.3 million in building grants
By Erin Mansfield, VTDigger.org Thirteen Vermont entities will receive more than $4 million in grants to make them more resilient, affordable, and accessible, Governor Peter Shumlin announced Wednesday, March 11. The grants are aimed specifically at helping small communities build […]
40,000 Vermonters opt for driver privilege cards over REAL ID licenses
By Elizabeth Hewitt, VTDigger.org Driver privilege cards, the form of identification intended to extend driving rights to migrant workers, have been issued to more than 40,000 Vermonters—considerably more than the state’s estimated 1,500 migrant population the cards were designed to […]
Vermont to face gap of at least $48.8 million in FY17-18
By Elizabeth Hewitt, VTDigger.org Vermont lawmakers are facing down a budget gap of at least $112 million in the current fiscal year. But even after they find a way to mend the 2016 budget, there’s more bad news ahead. The […]
Rural areas seek exemptions from new recycling law with little success
By John Herrick, VTDigger.org As new mandates to ban recyclables from landfills take effect July 1, the solid waste industry says the law will be costly for rural areas of the state, prompting some solid waste districts to seek exemptions […]