Here are just some of the problems with the new spending proposal: a $2.75 trillion tax hike would stunt post-pandemic economic recovery, less than 5% of spending goes to roads and bridges, and there’s $400 billion in welfare and health spending and $174 billion in subsidies for electric vehicles.
The Vermont Forward Plan uses vaccination rates as the key milestones for transitioning Vermont businesses to more general, universal guidance to prevent the spread of COVID-19; modifying travel guidance; and when gathering size can increase between now and July 4.
Senate lawmakers are locked in a heated debate over a proposed $50 million unemployment tax increase that could have some laid-off Vermonters receiving more than $600 per week in combined state and federal unemployment assistance.
Federal mandating of higher hourly pay rates places the burden of fighting poverty on the employers of the low-wage workers and the customers of low-wage businesses. It deprives the most vulnerable, least-skilled and least-experienced workers of an opportunity to earn their way into better paying career jobs.
The Legislature is now expecting to have $200 million on hand from stimulus funds to put towards broadband buildout. This is nearly a 670% increase over what the state had planned to spend in fiscal year 2022. Also on the upside, stronger voices have started testifying on the state of our pension funds.
Over the years legislatures and governors have periodically commissioned reports to formulate plans to strengthen Vermont’s agriculture. The most recent of these appeared last month. It’s titled the “Vermont Agriculture and Food System Strategic Plan.”
The New Hampshire Senate has rebuffed a Democratic-led proposal to raise the state’s minimum wage in a vote that went along party lines.
The legislation, titled the Tax Excessive CEO Pay Act, aims to combat corporate greed and “end outrageous CEO pay,” Sen. Bernie Sanders said in a press release Wednesday.
For every dollar spent on actual fiber buildout, taxpayers would need to spend $1.20. This is a problem. Don’t get us wrong, broadband is critically important to the future of our state. But this approach doesn’t make sense.
As many states start to reopen and allow citizens to return to normal, Vermont could miss out on economic opportunities if businesses elsewhere set their sights on freer states.
The index, which considers economic policies and conditions in 184 sovereign countries, reveals a world economy that as a whole continues to be “moderately free.” Perhaps reflecting the challenging environment complicated by the ongoing pandemic, global average economic freedom has not improved over the past year.
Democratic Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont explained Friday why he’s lifting some COVID-19 business restrictions, and Republican Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte said Friday that the state is returning to normal and criticized President Joe Biden’s “name-calling.”