The Vermont Senate and House advance legislation (H.238) May 29 that would outlaw the use of toxic perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in firefighting gear, dental floss, cleaning products, and fluorine-treated containers—a critical step in reducing Vermonters’ exposure to these harmful substances. The Senate expanded the bill as passed by the House by adding a provision that…

A final compromise on education reform proved elusive late Friday, and at about 11 p.m., the Senate adjourned, followed by the House at about 11:30 p.m. As late as 10 p.m., legislative leaders were still hopeful that the six conferees (three House and three Senate members) could reach a deal sometime before midnight that would…

After passing several challenging bills in the last few weeks, the Vermont Legislature adjourned until June 16 due to an impasse over negotiations on our education transformation bill, H.454. Many other bills addressing housing, homelessness, healthcare, and several other major issues required compromises from both the House and the Senate in order to be passed…

Attorney General Charity Clark announced last month that Vermont received a total of $23,132,483.92 from tobacco manufacturers under the tobacco Master Settlement Agreement (MSA). Annually, Vermont receives monies from tobacco manufacturers from the MSA, which resolved the state’s lawsuit filed in the 1990s. The settlement funds are credited to the state’s Tobacco Fund, and the…

By Shaun Robinson and Ethan Weinstein/VTDigger After a drawn-out day of disagreements and false starts, the Vermont Legislature bailed on its plan to wrap up business for the year on Friday, May 30, failing to come to a deal, at least for now, on this year’s landmark education reform bill. So strained were the talks, the House and…

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. Both had a week of ups and downs with more work still to be done. The Senate version of the education reform…

By Polly Mikula Vermont Senate passed H.454, the state’s landmark education reform bill, Friday night, May 23, after days of debate and uncertainty. The bill now heads back to the House, which was expected to call for a conference committee to work out its differences with the Senate version as soon as Tuesday, May 27.…

That was how Vermont Public reporter Lola Dufort described one of the potential challenges to move to a foundation formula that is included in the education reform bill under consideration. Under a foundation financing system, which is common in most states, each school district receives a standard amount per student adjusted for certain factors like…

By Habib Sabet/VTDigger Vermont is on track to join a growing list of states that have banned smartphones from classrooms statewide. Last week, lawmakers in a key committee advanced legislation that would require all of the state’s public school districts and independent schools to develop policies prohibiting students from using smartphones and other personal devices like…

Data shows first sustained annual decrease in opioid overdose deaths since 2019 New data from the Vermont Dept. of Health shows a significant decline in opioid overdose deaths last year. According to the newly-released Fatal Opioid Overdoses Among Vermonters report, 183 Vermonters died from an opioid-related overdose in 2024, a 22% decrease from 2023 when 236…

As I may have mentioned before, our House Appropriations Committee has a tradition of starting off each day with a short joke or riddle. Sometimes they are funny or get a laugh because they are lacking. It helps break the ice before we take testimony or discuss various expense priorities. Starting off the budget conference…

The best news of the week was that Mohsen Madawi was released from detention here in Vermont.  The federal government offered no acceptable justification for Madawi’s detention, and, as a result, Judge Crawford of Vermont’s U.S. District Court freed him. The conditions of his release seem relatively simple: he is now free to go back…

Last Thursday, May 1, the full Senate approved its version of the state budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 with numerous changes from the House. On Friday the House and Senate appointed a conference committee (three House and three Senate members) to work out the differences between the two chambers. Once that happens,…

U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), alongside Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) and Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.), introduced the Medicare for All Act last Tuesday, April 29. Hundreds of nurses, health care providers and workers from around the nation joined the lawmakers for a press conference in…

By Theresa Golub Editor’s note: This story is via Community News Service in partnership with Vermont State University Castleton. Across Vermont, the songs of spring peepers marking the change in seasons. Temperatures rise, snow melts and water runs into the dips and divots of the land to form vernal pools.  Biologists call those springtime basins the…