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 to help individuals, families, small businesses and hospitals mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.…

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 30 Senators met on Tuesday, March 24, in the Statehouse, and with plenty of social…

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 daily. Last week saw the governor issuing orders to stay home, close non-essential businesses, including…

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 the total number of claims — processed and unprocessed — is an all-time record. In…

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 strengthening that order —calling for visitors to, essentially, not visit. The Department of Tourism underscored…

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 in a series of closures, bans and restrictions intended to keep people at home, away…

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 we had to do,” he said. Schaefer runs Berkshire East (the ski area in northwestern…

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 utility service due to nonpayment of electricity, natural gas, and telecommunication bills. In Friday’s order,…

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 order also allows licensed retail stores to deliver beer, wine and liquor (including cocktails). The…

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 away for free Tuesday before closing their restaurant altogether. “Lunch is on us today!” the…

By Sen. Alison Clarkson We are all adjusting to our new COVID-19 normal. The Legislature has just finished its first week of working remotely on Vermont’s response to this crisis. In each committee we are addressing different ways to respond to the anxieties and uncertainties we are all facing. This crisis is affecting almost every…

By Rep. Jim Harrison, Bridgewater, Chittenden, Killington & Mendon President Kennedy’s words, “Ask not what your country can do for you. Ask what you can do for your country,” never rang more true than in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic. We must all make sacrifices and help out where we can. The spread of the…

By Xander Landen/VTDigger Gov. Phil Scott announced Monday, March 23, that the state has pushed back tax deadlines for businesses and individual Vermonters, in an effort to provide economic relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Scott administration also announced that businesses would not need to pay meals and rooms or sales and use tax “until further…

By Xander Landen/ VTdigger Gov. Phil Scott announced Monday that the state has pushed back tax deadlines for businesses and individual Vermonters, in an effort to provide economic relief during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Scott administration said in a news release that businesses would not need to pay meals and rooms or sales and use…

Professional logging contractors in Vermont are being encouraged to take advantage of a unique new opportunity to become Master Logger-certified at half the cost through a grant from the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation. The opportunity coincides with a push to expand the ranks of Vermont Master Loggers that qualify for the state’s…