“For the time being, we are still focusing on COVID-based emergency bills,” Sen. Chris Bray said. “We will get some time to do non-COVID work in the coming weeks, but I don’t yet know how much time. As always, we will have to prioritize and limit what we can take on with appropriate due diligence.”
Two Vermont Republican Party leaders are vying for election as Vermont’s male representative to the Republican National Committee.
Gov. Phil Scott on Friday announced a loosening of restrictions on businesses, but many will still not be able to operate as they did before the shutdown.
The number of Vermonters out of work and struggling to support their families continues to climb as the Vermont Department of Labor processed more than 6,500 jobless claims over the past week.
As explained by House Speaker Mitzi Johnson in an all-House caucus Wednesday, the first vote will be on Rule 9A, to allow remote voting. A three-quarters approval of all House members (meeting remotely) is required.
“There’s going to be a number of initiatives on the table, as we try and prioritize and live within our means and get through next year. … I don’t know which areas. There are going to be a lot of difficult choices to be made,” Gov. Scott responded.
Amid freezing temperatures and a spring snowfall, dozens of liberty-minded Vermonters with flags and signs met Wednesday at the state Capitol to send a message that the shutdown response to the coronavirus has gone on long enough.
Three years of hard work by Vermont DOL and Agency of Digital Services UI and computer experts went down the toilet earlier this year when Gov. Phil Scott pulled the plug on Vermont’s role in a multi-state UI benefits and tax upgrade called the Internet Unemployment System Consortium.
House Speaker Mitzi Johnson and Senate Pro Tem Tim Ashe this weekend asked Vermont State College trustees to not accept Chancellor Jeb Spaulding’s plan to close three rural college campuses, and instead develop a one-year “bridge” budget to buy time to build an alternative plan.
Americans fed up with governors collapsing economies have staged protests in about a dozen states this week, and Sunday and Monday saw Vermonters join in with protests in Johnson and Montpelier, which are set to continue in to the week.
Vermont State College Chancellor Jeb Spaulding announced Friday his plan to keep the state college system afloat by closing campuses in Lyndon, Johnson and Randolph. Negative reaction and grassroots organization was strong and swift.
In response to uncertain FY 2021 state transportation revenues, the House Transportation Committee on Wednesday discussed a proposal to approve a full year of transportation spending but allocate only enough money for three or four months.