Legislation includes small business aid, direct payments to individuals and increased unemployment compensation Staff report President Trump signed a $2 trillion economic stimulus bill Friday afternoon, March 27, after the House passed it earlier that day. The package provides aid […]
Category: State News
State News
Legislative update: Two bills pass in response to COVID-19
By Sen. Alison Clark This week the Vermont Legislature passed three significant measures, embodied in two bills, H.742 and H.681, to improve life for Vermonters in response to the COVID-19 crisis. After a week of working remotely, 17 of the […]
State News
Writing the rules as we go
By Rep. Jim Harrison Over the past few weeks, we have seen addendum after addendum to Governor Phil Scott’s Emergency Declaration that was issued on March 13. What was allowed yesterday may not be true today. The situation is changing […]
Covid-19 updates, Featured, State News
Vermont jobless claims spike, surpassing record highs
By Art Woolf The Vermont state labor department received 14,784 claims for unemployment for the week ending March 21. The huge spike in claims came in the wake of coronavirus-related layoffs. Michael Harrington, interim commissioner, told lawmakers Thursday, March 26, that […]
Covid-19 updates, Featured, State News
Police visit hotels to assess compliance with “Stay Home, Stay Safe” executive order
By Polly Mikula After promoting a “Stay to Stay” pro-gram for the last two years and creating other incentives to get people to come to Vermont and relocate, Governor Phil Scott issued an executive order — and then an amendment […]
Covid-19 updates, Featured, State News
How does Vermont’s COVID-19 response compare to other states?
By Erin Petenko and Xander Landen/VTDigger Vermont Gov. Phil Scott issued a “stay home” order on March 24 (effective March 25), then strengthened that order on March 30 with 14-day self-quarantining measures for those traveling in from outside the state. It’s the latest […]
Featured, State News
Goggles For Docs, a idea that sparked a solution
By Lisa Lynn, VT Ski & Ride On the night of March 10, Jon Schaefer read an article about the spread of COVID-19. He turned off the lights and went to sleep. “Five minutes later, I woke up and knew what […]
State News
Prohibition on utility disconnects now includes water
On Friday, March 27, the Vermont Public Utility Commission (PUC) expanded the moratorium on utility disconnections to include non-residential ratepayers and regulated water companies. A previous order, issued on March 18, had directed utilities to stop any disconnection of residential […]
Covid-19 updates, State News
Takeout booze and deliveries gets approval
Staff report Now you can have an alcoholic beverage with your takeout meal. Gov. Phil Scott signed an executive order Thursday, March 19, that allows restaurants to provide “to-go” orders of cocktails, beer and wine. Restaurants can also deliver those drinks. The […]
Covid-19 updates, State News
Job losses mount as small businesses comply with new coronavirus orders
By Anne Wallace Allen/VTDigger BRANDON — Faced with the loss of their standard food deliveries from New York City as a result of COVID-19, the owners of Li’s Chinese decided to cook the ingredients they did have and give the meals […]