By Sen. Dick McCormack It requires real effort to focus on anything but Covid and the transfer of power, but life and its lesser concerns go on. A tri-partisan group of senators is co-sponsoring S.17, a bill I’ve introduced to require civics education for a high school diploma. The ideological diversity of the bill’s sponsors…

By Rep. Jim Harrison Last Tuesday, Jan. 26, Governor Phil Scott addressed a virtual joint assembly of the Legislature, to highlight his administration’s budget proposal for the next fiscal year beginning July 1. The plan included use of $210 million of “one-time money” (such as a budget surplus from the current year or extra money…

Joins nearly 100 criminal justice leaders in calling for urgent action Attorney General TJ Donovan has joined nearly 100 criminal justice leaders in urging President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to take all actions within their power to immediately and definitively end the death penalty in the United States. In a letter sent…

By Anne Wallace Allen/VTDigger Among the millions of people who left the U.S. workforce last year, most are women. And nowhere is that more evident than in Vermont, which led the nation with the largest share of unemployment insurance recipients who were women. New research from the Joint Fiscal Office shows that about 73% of the…

By Lola Duffort/VTDigger An unexpected surplus in tax receipts is not just good news for the state’s coffers. It’s a boon to Vermont’s schools and to property owners, whose education taxes might otherwise have skyrocketed next year. With the state’s revenue upgrade in hand, the House Ways and Means Committee last week green-lighted legislation that would raise the average education…

By Brooke Geery Second-grade teacher Jen Ellis’s handmade, upcycled mittens set the Internet ablaze after they were worn by Sen. Bernie Sanders at the 2021 inauguration. Since she is busy and satisfied with her current career, Ellis has opted against going into full-time mitten production. But for those who would love to get a pair…

While the recent Bernie meme and sweatshirt sales have sold out and all proceeds are going toward Senator Sanders' home state of Vermont for the Meals on Wheels programs, we, at the Vermont Association of Area Agencies on Aging (V4A) couldn’t be more ecstatic. Carol Stamatakis, president of V4A and executive director of Senior Solutions,…

Governor Phil Scott unveiled his proposal to add $3 million to the base funding for the Vermont’s Working Lands Enterprise Initiative for Fiscal Year 2022 on Tuesday, Jan. 26, during his annual budget address. The Vermont Working Lands Coalition celebrated this proposal this week and encouraging Vermont legislators to support the significant one-time investment. “We…

Feb. 1, the Vermont Community Foundation (VCF) announced that it has partnered with the Community College of Vermont (CCV) to expand pathways to promising jobs for high school seniors across the state. To help the Vermont high school class of 2022 chart and start their career training, the Community Foundation will offer $1,000 in stipends…

By Anne Wallace Allen/VTDigger The Vermont Department of Labor will reissue about 180,000 of the 1099 tax forms mailed to unemployment insurance recipients Friday, Jan. 29. Some of the forms contain the wrong person’s private information, including names, addresses and social security numbers. Labor Commissioner Michael Harrington said Monday, Feb. 1, the department started receiving…

Funding is now available for organizations and projects across the state of Vermont through the Spark Connecting Community competitive grant program at the Vermont Community Foundation. Spark supports projects that nurture community and build social capital. The program prioritizes community resilience and strength, increased civic engagement, and collaboration among organizations. The first round of 2021…

By Lisa Lynn/Vermont Sports As Governor Scott outlined in his annual budget address Tuesday, Jan. 26, outdoor recreation is going to see some major investment in the coming year. “It’s more than 20 million dollars, that’s huge!” said Kelly Ault, executive director of the Vermont Outdoor Business Alliance, which counts as members businesses such as Orvis,…

Average sale price for a single-family home rose 26% to $352,537 By Anne Wallace Allen/VTDigger The number of $1 million home sales in Vermont nearly tripled last year. Vermont real estate agents assisted in the sale of 313 homes worth at least $1 million in 2020, said Staige Davis, CEO of Four Seasons Sotheby’s. In 2019,…

USDA Rural Development (RD) is seeking applications for the Value Added Producer Grant Program (VAPG). Applications will be accepted through close of business on March 22, 2021. The VAPG program helps agricultural producers in rural communities develop and market their products, and widen their areas of distribution, to increase their income and strengthen rural food…

The Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF) aims to ensuring that all children in New Hampshire and Vermont have access to enriching literacy experiences, the resources they need to learn, and high-quality books in the spaces where they spend time, particularly in the home. Literacy skills are one of the strongest indicators of a child’s future success…