By Xander Landen/VTDigger A Senate committee is poised to advance legislation that would criminalize robocalls in the state, penalizing illegal callers with up to 90 days in jail or fines up to $10,000. Sen. Randy Brock, R-Franklin, the lead sponsor of S.324, said he decided to propose the legislation after a day when he received 11 robocalls…

By Xander Landen/VTDigger Democrats in the Vermont House fell one vote short in their attempt to override Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of a paid family leave program on Wednesday, Feb. 12. In a major loss for the majority party, which has made passing a mandatory paid family leave program a priority in recent years, the…

By Xander Landen/VTDigger The House Ways and Means Committee advanced legislation Wednesday, Feb. 5, that would legalize a marketplace for marijuana and set a 20% combined tax rate on sales of the substance. The action means the bill, S.54, will likely see a full vote on the House floor in the coming weeks, and represents major movement…

The Vermont Department of Health is working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to monitor people who have returned from travel in China for symptoms of a novel coronavirus, now called COVID-19. The monitoring effort is for people who have returned from China in the past 14 days and had no symptoms of…

Staff report BOSTON — Addison Press made a very good showing in the Better Newspaper Contest at the New England Newspaper and Press Association annual convention in Boston this past weekend. The Middlebury newspaper and magazine group (sister publications to the Mountain Times) boasted 30 awards — including nine first-place honors — in a contest…

On Monday, Feb. 10, Gov. Phil Scott vetoed S.23, a bill that would have mandated an increase in Vermont’s minimum wage. This mandate would have been on top of increases that already occur annually under current Vermont law. In his veto message, the governor outlined his primary concerns with a mandated increase: Fiscal analysis projects…

On Thursday, Feb. 6, Representative Peter Welch introduced bipartisan legislation that will more than double funding for the federal Recreational Trails Program (RTP). Since 1991, RTP has provided funding to states to develop and maintain outdoor recreational trails, allowing millions of Americans and their families to enjoy activities such as hiking, bicycling, cross-country skiing, snowmobiling…

Staff members on the Manchester and Rochester-Middlebury ranger districts of the Green Mountain National Forest have been working to develop a recreation strategy that is intended to reduce costs and maximize public benefits while balancing social, economic, and environmental factors. The Forest plans to finalize its 5-year Recreation Facility Strategy before this year’s prime recreation…

by Red. Jim Harrison The headlines last weekend were the Governor’s veto of H.107, the paid family leave program. While the veto was expected due to the bill’s new $29 million tax on employees, legislative leadership is now busy trying to find the votes to override the veto. While it may be possible to switch…

Gov. Phil Scott announced he will move forward with his voluntary paid family and medical leave program, and vetoed H.107, a bill which levied a $29 million payroll tax on Vermont workers to fund a mandatory paid leave program. “I share the goal to provide a program that allows workers time to take care of…

The Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department reports that bear hunters in Vermont had a safe and successful hunting season in 2019. Preliminary numbers show that hunters took a record 750 black bears during the two-part early and late bear seasons. The previous highest harvest ever recorded in was 728 in 2004.  There were no hunting-related…

Secretary of State Jim Condos announced that the early voting period for the 2020 Presidential Primary Elections began Friday, Jan. 17. Vermont voters may request their ballot to vote early any day leading up to the March 3 Presidential Primary Election day. Ballot requests can be made with local town and city clerks by phone,…

By Sen. Dick McCormack On Jan. 9, several climate crisis protesters disrupted the governor’s State of the State address for about 20 minutes. Colleagues, constituents, and media had several different reactions; outrage at the disruption, snide sarcasm about the protesters, outrage at the climate crisis and outrage at government’s failure to respond to the crisis…

By Jim Harrison Gov. Phil Scott used part of his State of the State address two weeks ago to remind us all of the growing demographic change facing Vermont. Its impact can be seen in schools with fewer students and a shrinking labor pool. With the governor’s budget address scheduled for this Tuesday, Jan. 21,…

By Art Woolf/VTDigger The U.S. Census Bureau’s most recent population report shows that each year since 2016, Vermont has experienced more deaths than births. Vermont continued to lose population in 2019, according to the latest U.S. Census Bureau estimates of each state’s population. On July 1, Vermont had 623,989 residents, 400 fewer than a year earlier and…