By Alan J. Keays, VTDigger A landmark bill that would make a series of significant changes to the state’s gun laws has received final approval from Vermont’s General Assembly. Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, says he intends to sign that bill as well as two others that introduce new gun control measures. The passage Friday, March…

By Anne Galloway, VTDigger Hundreds of gun activists swarmed the State House lawn Saturday afternoon, March 31, to protest the passage of S.55, legislation that puts sweeping new restrictions on gun use in Vermont. Republican Gov. Phil Scott has promised to sign the bill into law. During the rally, participants formed two lines on the sidewalk…

By Xander Landen, VTDigger The House passed a $5.84 billion budget proposal Friday, March 23, that lawmakers say addresses the needs of the most vulnerable Vermonters and makes long-term investments without raising taxes or fees. Facing little debate, the budget bill, H.924, passed overwhelmingly in a vote of 122-10. While representatives put four amendments on the table,…

On March 21, the House passed the tri-partisan Education Finance Reform Bill, H.911 on a vote of 85-54. The bill provides a restructuring of the Education Fund, updating the Vermont personal income tax code to streamline it with the federal changes and eliminating taxable Social Security benefits for low and middle-income Vermonters, while preserving funding for Vermont’s…

By Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Bridgewater, Chittenden, Killington & Mendon This past week, the Vermont House voted on a proposal to lower residential property taxes for education. Who could be against that? After careful consideration, I voted against H.911 when it came up for preliminary approval. The legislation does lower the residential property tax rate on…

By Katy Savage RUTLAND—Gov. Phil Scott started a speech before members of the Rutland Region Chamber of Commerce and Rutland Economic Development Fund Monday, March 12, by addressing what he called “the elephant in the room.” About a month ago, Fair Haven High School—20 miles from Rutland—was threatened by a shooter. The threat at Fair…

By Kelsey Neubauer, VTDigger The state’s only polling institute is among the casualties as Castleton University seeks to address a $1.5 million budget gap. Two dean positions have also been eliminated. Castleton spokesperson Jeff Weld said Tuesday, March 13, that the university had cut the positions of Dean of Administration Scott Dykman and Dean of Entrepreneurial…

By Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Bridgewater, Chittenden, Killington and Mendon Some of the sessions big issues will be up for votes on the House floor this coming week, including the “must pass” state budget. This is the time of year when committees have passed out bills they have been working on this year to get them…

On Friday, March 2, the Vermont Senate approved bill S.216, to allow medical marijuana sales for any “disease, condition, or treatment as determined in writing by a qualifying patient’s health care professional,” according to page 334, of the March 1 Senate Journal. S.216 also requires the Vermont Department of Agriculture to establish marijuana testing laboratories, a necessary…

In school budgets presented to voters on Town Meeting Day, school boards and administrators rose to the challenge of keeping spending growth below the state’s target of 2.5 percent. FY 2019 statewide education spending growth is estimated at 1.5 percent, with education spending per equalized pupil coming in at under 1 percent. Ninety-six percent of…

On Town Meeting Day, Vermont residents from 35 towns voted overwhelmingly in favor of resolutions seeking climate solutions. The exact wording of each resolution varied, but all the resolutions acknowledged the severity of climate change, urged the State of Vermont to meet its goals for 90 percent renewable energy, and called for a fair and…

By Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Bridgewater, Chittenden, Killington & Mendon It was great to see so many people at the town meetings in each of the district towns last week. Bridgewater’s meeting was unique in the sense that it was held at the Long Trail Brewery, which had closed its popular restaurant on Tuesday to allow…

By Senator Alison Clarkson It’s Town Meeting week and we are about half way through Vermont’s Legislative Session. We’ve pressed hard to vote out all the priority bills from our Committees in order to meet our “cross over” deadline (that point in the Session when the bills which we hope will make it into law…

By Rep. Jim Harrison, R-Bridgewater, Chittenden, Killington & Mendon A flurry of activity of various gun related issues highlighted activity at the State House this past week, prior to the Town Meeting recess. The legislature will return to Montpelier on March 13. Gun control measures advance In the wake of the horrific shooting in Florida…

By Colin Meyn, VTDigger Gov. Phil Scott said he was “disappointed” that a bill addressing gun violence did not make it to his desk last week after the House decided to move on its own “extreme risk” gun seizure bill rather than passing a similar bill already approved by the Senate. The bill that looked most…