The Vermont Senate has introduced its long-promised work-around of a U.S. Supreme Court decision requiring towns with no high schools to provide tuition to approved, independent religious schools.
Initiatives targeting a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions would be funded if the Vermont Office of Climate Action gets an additional $200,000 in the state’s upcoming fiscal year 2024 budget.
On Wednesday, representatives from the Joint Fiscal Office briefed House lawmakers in the Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency, and Forestry about costs associated with the proposed universal school meals program.
Manufactured housing communities in Vermont will benefit from a new state investment. The Healthy Homes Initiative will dispense $12.6 million in state funding, Gov. Phil Scott said, that will be used to repair, replace, and upgrade water infrastructure in mobile home parks around the state.
“I worry that saying the pledge has been used as a litmus test for my patriotism or respect for service members, and it is not. It is a reflection on a religious belief, in the same way I’m sure many Christian Americans would struggle to say a pledge that said ‘Under Oden’ or ‘Under Zeus.’”
A Vermont environmental leader and 2020 candidate for governor is warning the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee that its plan to convert Vermont from fossil fuels to electricity will strain the state’s power grid.
Senate lawmakers last week heard from legislative counsel about a bill that would force managers of public retirement programs to de-invest from carbon-related energy investments such as oil and gas energy production.
Winooski landlords were up in arms at the Jan. 26 public hearing on the proposed just-cause eviction charter change because the measure would prevent them from getting rid of tenants based only on the fact that their lease is up.
At the end of the fifth week of the legislative session, the Senate Natural Resources & Energy Committee currently working on the Clean Heat Standard bill, S.5, decided to hear testimony from Vermont fuel dealers — the businesses that will be most negatively impacted by the law.
H.89 looks to shield patients and providers from prosecution in states where abortion or gender-related procedures are illegal. Utah legislators recently passed a bill banning minors from accessing gender-affirming procedures, joining more than 20 other states considering similar restrictions.
Social services leaders say they’re scrambling to figure out what to do when the state’s program to help homeless people stay in hotels ends — either next month as slated or this summer if legislation is passed.
“However, despite significant agreement on both adjustments and one-time initiatives the administration is concerned about three sizable investments, which together exceed $80 million in new additional general fund spending,” Administration Secretary Kristin Clouser said.