Roll Call: Senate chooses tentative approach on pension reform
The purpose of S.286 was to reduce the $3 billion deficit in the state’s public employee and teacher retirement funds, with that stated goal of making the pensions 90% funded.
Keelan: Another possible second home offering
The home, located on about 150 acres, comes with a one-hole, par-three golf course, a pool, bowling alley, horseback riding trails, free-standing library, tennis facilities, movie theater, an inter-faith chapel, and even a state-of-the-art emergency medical-surgical room.
Report: Biden expected to extend moratorium on student loan payments
President Joe Biden is expected to pause student loan payments through Aug. 31, once again extending the moratorium that has allowed Americans to postpone paying their debts throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, The Hill first reported.
California city to give transgender residents $900 a month basic income
Palm Springs, California is set to debut a program giving transgender residents $900 a month in basic income, despite resistance from the city’s transgender mayor.
Gregory Thayer: Irresponsible Democratic leadership
The Democratic leadership’s budget and policy agenda are irresponsible, leaving thousands of working Vermonters and small business owners having to pay more money.
Paul Dame: Flags should be used to unite us, not divide us
The House stripped Barre City of their solution to a problem that has divided their community — because that’s better for the agenda of the Progressive Democrats. It is truly a shame.
McClaughry: Bill McKibben backtracks on nuclear energy
“I applauded, more than a decade ago, when the Vermont legislature voted to close the state’s old nuclear plant at the end of its working life, but I wouldn’t today.”
VISA update: Universal school breakfast could cost $6 to $10 million annually
A bill to require all Vermont public schools to provide free breakfasts to all students likely would put a $6 to $10 million burden on the Education Fund, according to a fiscal note from the Joint Fiscal Office.
Biden’s budget proposal has 3 huge red flags, experts say
President Joe Biden’s recently unveiled budget includes massive tax hikes, untrammeled government spending and “leftist” agendas, raising serious red flags.
Protect Vermont’s hiking and biking trails during mud season
We ask the public to avoid muddy, soft trails, especially at high elevations, in order to protect the trails, protect alpine vegetation, and leave trails in good shape for the hiking and biking season.
McClaughry: Legislature pushing through major changes
The Legislature is moving to put an astounding 170,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2030, create a $1,200 per-child child tax credit, conserve 50 percent of Vermont’s total land area by 2050, pass a “clean heat standard,” and more.
John Klar: Vermont’s green coup d’état
Vermont’s Senate has embraced an “act relating to environmental justice,” which seeks to redistribute the costs of environmental pollutants from the city mice to the country mice, while punishing white people who live where there is fresh air for the sin of country living.