It was widely known that putting together the next state budget was going to be tight. All the extra federal money that came to Vermont during the pandemic, has previously been appropriated and state revenue growth has slowed. The governor’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2025 (beginning July 1, 2024) had an overall increase…

Warns Legislature: more work is needed to control costs Governor Phil Scott signed H.850, an act relating to transitioning education financing to the new system for pupil weighting, on Thursday, Feb. 22. The new law seeks to reduce property tax increases this year, which could reach 20% without action by local school districts, according to Scott. When signing…

During House discussion of H.850 last week, which removes the controversial 5% cap on the equalized homestead rates for education, the chair of the House Ways & Means Committee repeated the obvious: Spending increases generally cause tax increases. And that is the predicament that K-12 education budgets are in right now. If there were minor…

Valentine’s Day at the State House this year was surprisingly eventful and romantic. In addition to the usual round of cheer and chocolate in each committee, we celebrated the first wedding of a legislative colleague in many years. State Representative Mary-Katherine Stone married U.S. Air Force Captain Ryan Fischer on the State House steps in…

Vermont Fish & Wildlife announced Monday, Feb. 5, that a Longnose Gar taken by a bowfishing angler in 2023 has been certified as a new state record. In May of 2023, Pennsylvania angler Jeremy Bicking was out bowfishing in the evening on Lake Champlain and took a gar that weighed 18.6 pounds. This big fish measured…

It’s no secret that school property taxes are heading higher. In the Dec. 1 letter from the Tax Commissioner, they were estimated to go up by 18.5%, based on a 12% increase in school district spending. That number is now over 20% statewide as proposed spending is now up 14.8% on average. Some of the…

As we say goodbye to our first month of our Legislative Session 2024, bills are beginning to pass and Vermont’s current challenges are being further articulated. Many are flood related. Our first Flood 2023 Recovery bill to pass both chambers is S.160, a tax abatement (relief for taxpayers) bill. The bill covers an abatement in…

Submitted Attorney General Charity Clark today announced Feb. 1 that Vermont will receive $1,079,000 as its share of a $350 million national settlement with Publicis Health to resolve investigations into the global marketing and communications firm’s role in the prescription opioid crisis. In agreeing to the terms of the settlement, Publicis recognized the harm its…

By Ethan Weinstein/VTDigger More than two years since the Legislature created the PCB testing program, the state has sampled almost a third of Vermont schools built before 1980, when building materials were most likely to contain the toxins. In 35 of those 96 schools, testing has discovered PCBs at a level that mandates action. Testing is scheduled to…

A Vermont House bill could change the definition By Brooke Burns, 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. Only a third of Vermont’s 20,000 occupied mobile homes qualify for the…

When the online news outlet VTDigger featured a photo of me welcoming the governor entering the House Chamber for his annual budget address (seen above), I couldn’t help using it to my advantage in a “fun” way. With some technical help, we printed out a copy, which I autographed and presented it to the governor…

Late last Friday, Jan. 19, members of the House Appropriations Committee unanimously agreed to proceed with this year’s budget adjustment bill. Called the BAA (Budget Adjustment Act) at the State House, it is an annual mid-year amendment to the current year budget approved the prior session. Any individual member of the committee can find provisions…

Addressing Vermont’s housing crisis is one of the Legislature’s top agenda items this year — as it has been for the last four years. There are many factors creating the challenge we face. Vermont been underbuilding new housing units since the 1980s, and add to that the Covid pandemic, the loss of housing because of…

An innovative initiative is underway in Vermont: The Grow America Farm Corps initiative addresses Vermont’s farm labor shortages by fostering dynamic collaboration among local farmers, new Americans, and supporting partners. Farmers with employment opportunities can sign up to match with new Americans seeking agricultural training and mentorship. Grow America Farm Corps partners assist in placing…

By Peter D’Auria/VTDigger In 2022, Erin Kellar was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Kellar had enrolled in Vermont’s Medicaid health insurance program as a graduate student, and was able to stay in the program while she began her career as a therapist.  Medicaid helped pay for treatment for her diabetes, which requires rapid-acting insulin, long-acting insulin…