Most Dem Congress hopefuls don’t own gun, Balint has never fired one
Two of the four Democratic candidates for Congress have never fired a gun and do not own one now, they said on an April 13, VTDigger debate.
Tom Harris: Earth Day obsessed with climate crusade — but the public is not
Based on an hypothesis about the causes of climate change, we are letting people suffer today so as to possibly help those yet to be born. As the public come to understand this, they will soon regard the climate crusade as fundamentally immoral.
Paul Dame: The problem with pensions is the pension system is patently unsustainable
Union representatives will tell workers that they “avoid the risk” by having a pension instead of a defined contribution plan, like a 401k. What Governor Scott and Republicans want is just to give our state employees a choice.
Liberals absolutely lose their minds about Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover
Twitter users complained that Musk’s takeover would result in an increase in racism and abusive content on the site, and several users noted Musk’s South African background to suggest that he would implement “Apartheid” online.
Companion bills aimed at curbing Vermont’s rental housing shortage
The S.210 rental housing bill would require an upfront state commitment of $20.4 million in ARPA funding to get up and running and subsequently would receive funding through the new revenue stream linked to the annual registry fee. ARPA funding also comes into play for S.226.
Equity-in-schools conference to host Balint, Ram Hinsdale, four high school equity directors
The conference, hosted by the Vermont Student Anti-Racism Network, will include a breakout space for conversations, speakers, and a presentation by VSARN students on the work they are doing to promote anti-racism in schools.
Annette Smith: Getting past the hype of the clean heat standard
There is still time to contact your senators and ask them to table H.715 and let the $200 million they are allocating for clean energy do the real world work. Vermont does not need more gimmicks and convoluted energy policies and requirements to buy more stuff.
McClaughry: A Vermont Senate committee’s honest discussion of proposed heat standard
Yes, forcing your heating fuel distributor to buy clean heat credits will drive up the price of that fuel. And who will pay the higher price? You will. The senators now admit what I’ve been saying since early February: It’s a stealth carbon tax.
VISA update: New 2200 Series rules fully approved for oversight of independent schools
This brings to an end a very lengthy process beginning with the passage of new independent school requirements in Act 173 in the 2018 legislative session.
Democrats get more bad news about their chances of holding the House
Two major election raters have shifted their projected outcomes for several House races toward the GOP in yet another signal Republicans are favored to retake control in the midterms.
Opinion: Proposal 5 is a can of unintended consequences
Proposal 5 is being hyped by politicians and the media as a means of protecting at the state level the abortion rights conferred by Roe v. Wade at the federal level. This is inaccurate, and, from a legal standpoint, dangerously so.
Consumers set to get crushed as energy utilities switch to solar, wind
The transition to renewables will lead to higher costs for utilities which will then be passed onto consumers in the form of price hikes. Energy costs will remain elevated in the future as providers build out renewable infrastructure and electricity demand skyrockets.