On Thursday, May 23, Governor Phil Scott, as expected, signed the budget bill into law H.833, while vetoing H.289, An Act Relating to the Renewable Energy Standard.  Scott has long voiced his opposition to the renewable energy bill because of the cost and complexity in how the law could be carried out and the ultimate cost…

Staff report On Monday, May 20, World Bee Day, Gov. Phil Scott vetoed legislation meant to protect bees and other pollinators from a widely-used neuorotoxic pesticide. The bill (H.706) would  eliminate most uses of neonicotinoid pesticides (neonics) in Vermont, which have been associated with alarming losses of managed and wild bee populations. Neonic insecticides are used on…

Vermonters are again facing steep upward premium growth for 2025 due to the cumulative impact of hospital costs, drug prices and state health care policy choices. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont projects that these trends will continue and will require rate increases of 16.3% for individual health plans and 19.1% for the small group…

As part of his investigation into the outrageously high price of Ozempic and Wegovy in the U.S., U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, released a stunning new report May 15 exposing the potential of weight loss drugs to bankrupt American health care. In the report, HELP…

By Kate Kampner, Community News Service Editor’s note: The Community News Service is a program in which University of Vermont students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost. When Peter Stickney walks along his cow paddocks in the morning, he notes the scattered patches of greener grass across the…

Session was shaped by debates over property taxes, housing shortages, flood recovery and public safety By Sarah Mearhoff and Shaun Robinson/VTDigger After a tumultuous day of dealmaking on housing, land use and property tax measures, the Vermont Legislature adjourned its 2024 session in the early hours of Saturday morning, May 11. The Senate gaveled out at 1:18 a.m.…

Overdose deaths in Vermont have decreased for the first time since 2019. According to the Dept. of Health’s newly released Annual Fatal Overdose Report, opioid-related overdoses resulted in the death of 231 Vermonters in 2023, a 5% drop from 2022 when 244 Vermonters died. The overdose report includes data on Vermonters who died of any drug…

After a week of long days and late nights, the regular session of the 2024 Vermont Legislature adjourned early Saturday morning just after 2 a.m. My best guess in the annual adjournment pool was 6:30 p.m. Friday evening, which turned out to be way too optimistic. When the Legislature finishes its work for the session,…

Vermont’s 2023-24 Legislative Biennium ended in the wee hours of Saturday morning May 11. The Senate gaveled out at 1:18 a.m. and the House about 2 a.m. This has been a hard session. It was begun in the wake of a natural disaster, with a state recovering from terrible flooding. Despite these challenges we managed…

By Shaun Robinson/VTDigger Vermont lawmakers have passed a bill that would create new uniform ethical standards for many local government officials — a change that proponents said is long overdue. H.875 would establish a “municipal code of ethics” that’s similar to one for state officials that went into effect two years ago. The new code would apply to local…

It’s not the end of the road for the bill, which seeks to make major changes to the state’s half-century-old land use law By Carly Berlin Editor’s note: This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public. After a flurry of last-minute deliberations, the Vermont…

Tuesday, May 7, the Vermont Senate passed H.289, to modernize the Renewable Energy Standard and set Vermont on a path to delivering 100% renewable electricity across all the state’s utilities by 2035. This would make Vermont only the second state to meet that critical benchmark, and would significantly increase the requirements for Vermont utilities to…

Despite my reputation at the State House as a promoter of our annual March Madness pool and making a couple of announcements about the adjournment pool, I am not a gambler. If you ever saw me in a casino during my former career attending a conference, at best, you may have found me at the…

By Norah White, Community News Service Editor’s note: The Community News Service is a program in which University of Vermont students work with professional editors to provide content for local news outlets at no cost. Lawmakers are weighing a bill to punish repeat shoplifters who otherwise would only face a string of misdemeanors — a move…

Governor Phil Scott and Ernie Boch Jr. today announced, Monday, April 15, the launch of a new grant program aimed at supporting music programs in Vermont schools. The program will be run in coordination with Mr. Boch’s foundation, Music Drives Us (MDU), a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that strives to inspire New England’s musicians of tomorrow by supporting…