Anti-retail pot, BLM opponent defeats Dem House incumbent – without Facebook
On Election Day last Tuesday, Art Peterson of Clarendon proved that a determined challenger can defeat an established Democratic incumbent, without any help from Facebook.
For Dem/Prog loss of supermajority, GOP can thank Phil Scott and John Klar
The Vermont House Democrat/Progressive supermajority evaporated on Election Day. The axiom that Republican governors have short coattails proved wrong this year.
Dem Speaker Mitzi Johnson, Prog leader Chesnut-Tangerman ousted from House by surging GOP
After narrow Election Day wins, the Vermont Republican House Caucus now stands at 46, with two independents considered likely to vote with them on many issues.
Can House GOP get its veto back? Watch these races
Republicans in the Vermont House of Representatives need eight more seats to reach the 51 necessary to sustain a governor’s veto.
Ethan Allen Institute releases short session legislator vote profiles
The Ethan Allen Institute released its officially updated legislator “Roll Call Profiles” today to reflect the key votes from the August and September 2020 legislative session.
Police chief on new use-of-force law: ‘We were speaking but not being listened to’
Gov. Phil Scott allowed S.119 to pass without his signature, and at least one police chief says lawmakers didn’t listen to those on the front lines as they crafted new use-of-force policies for police.
New law requires energy goal ed for licensed building professionals
The state of Vermont has two separate “90% by 2050” energy goals. A new law makes learning those goals a condition of licensing for many of Vermont’s building construction and service professionals.
Legislature yet to apologize for eugenics law
Today, Vermont observes its second annual Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which replaced Columbus Day as an official state holiday in 2019. This year the Vermont Legislature failed to pass a resolution apologizing for a 1931 law allowing the State of Vermont to sterilize Abenaki Indians, mentally ill Vermonters, and other minority groups.
Union-backed bill would impair employee rights and jeopardize state’s Medicaid funding
It’s clear that the 10 months S.254 spent under consideration in Montpelier weren’t enough. Gov. Scott should exercise his veto authority and, in so doing, send a message to the Legislature that it should either scrap or overhaul this misguided proposal.
Weiland Ross: Time to assemble a new team
We need a complete new delegation that will represent Vermont’s people, not the interests of the climate lobby. We have been a one-party state long enough.
Deb Billado: Gov. Scott’s veto highlights Montpelier’s imbalance
The current Democratic/Progressive supermajority in both chambers of the Legislature means they can do pretty much what they want with no checks and balances and no reason to compromise. This is a bad dynamic for a couple of reasons.
Inmates’ move from Mississippi to New Hampshire nixed
Negotiations to move Vermont inmates from a Mississippi prison to to just across the Connecticut River from Bradford failed because the Haverhill, N.H., facility lacks necessary drug treatment programs.