Last week saw positive progress on a number of fronts. After looking like it was unraveling last week, a new draft of S.171 (the ethics bill) on Friday showed positive developments. Workforce and economic development bills are also taking shape and are looking promising.
Vermont has never been a white supremacist state. That’s just a fact, employing traditional English language. However, a disillusioned gang of racist ideologues seeks to change the English language such that “being white” equals “white supremacist.”
Sen. Sirotkin characterizes those voting against S.210 as those who believe when “there’s government involvement it can’t do any good.” Quite the rhetorical flourish, which when taken at face value, suggests Vermont’s seven Senate Republicans and one moderate Democrat who voted against S.210 are the out-of-touch libertarians of a bygone era.
And, minor detail, Vermont has no authority to make wholesalers in those states buy Vermont’s clean heat credits. Attempting to do so would violate what is referred to as dormant commerce clause of the U.S. Constitution. Oops.
Arguments can be made for reducing the tax burden on some families with children, but this joint statement gets an A for partisan self-congratulation, and an F for telling voters and taxpayers the whole truth.
H.361, an act relating to approval of amendments to the charter of the town of Brattleboro, passed in the State Senate on February 11, 2022, by a vote of 20-9.
Governor Phil Scott today announced his appointment of Wayne A. Laroche, of Franklin, to the Vermont House of Representatives, representing House District Franklin-5. Laroche replaces former Representative Paul Martin (R-Franklin) who recently resigned.
What the governor didn’t mention is that the bill is also the first step toward forcing all contractors to be licensed and policed by the state, and meet strict state-mandated energy conservation standards or pay serious fines.
The legislation, sponsored by state Rep. Janet Ancel, D-Calais, would create a refundable child tax credit of $1,200 for children age 6 and under. As proposed, half of the credit would be paid out to Vermonters in monthly payments, and the other half would be paid when an income tax return is filed.
In its Feb. 13 legislative update, Campaign for Vermont offers an in-depth look at what lawmakers and the governor are doing for fiscal responsibility, workforce and economic development, housing, good government and education.
Data from the Public Service Department shows that up to 40% percent of Vermonters do not have reliable cell service, and that, as of 2018, 62% of our highways had middling or poor reception, while 10% lacked any kind of coverage at all.
A new clause in the Senate ‘criminal threatening’ bill would levy prison sentences of up to three years to store customers who make “true threats” after being asked to wear a mask, the Senate Judiciary Committee learned Thursday.