Posts filed under: Legislative Report
Green Up Day is right around the corner—of the calendar, that is—and Vermonters will head out to the roadsides to pick up the refuse of winter. Based on my past...
The announcement in January by State Treasurer Beth Pearce that the state pension funds for teachers and state employees were grossly underfunded and that action had to be taken to...
Over the weekend, I was able to watch a Zoom broadcast of a “Bridging” ceremony for my grandson Guthrie and his Cub Scout den. The ceremony marks the passage of...
As the Legislature prepared to recess for town meeting week, the focus continued to be on our number one priority: Vermonters and the coronavirus....
Every two years in January a new legislature is sworn in and serves until a new legislature is sworn in two years later. During this time almost a thousand bills...
The Vermont House has worked productively in the last two weeks. We approved the annual Budget Adjustment bill (H.138), a mid-year technical adjustment to keep the state’s Fiscal Year 2021...
The first few weeks of a legislative biennium get off to a relatively slow start, not momentous at all. Bills are just beginning to be introduced and assigned to committees...
As the world reacted in shock to the events unfolding in Washington, D.C. on January 6, the Vermont Legislature was convening for the 2021–2022 biennium....
The Tax Commissioner’s projection of a 9% increase in property taxes last week was predictably a shock considering the economic climate we are currently in. In fact, it would be...
When the Legislature convened on Jan. 7 this year, no one thought we would still be meeting in September. We finally adjourned Friday, Sept. 25, after the longest legislative session...
The Legislature moved closer to final adjournment last week with the passage by the House of the Fiscal Year 2021 (FY21) budget. Since all money bills, both taxation and spending, must...
The Vermont Legislature returned virtually to Montpelier last week to complete the work of developing a budget for the last three quarters of fiscal year 2021. While this is our...
Ever since Vermont received $1.25 billion in Coronavirus Relief Funds (CRF) as a result of the federal CARES Act, Governor Scott and the Legislature have been trying to decide how...
Our United States Constitution guarantees American citizens many rights, most notably those contained in the first 10 amendments, the Bill of Rights. The right of every eligible citizen to vote...
We are now two months into the societal shutdown caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, but it honestly feels much longer. It seems hard to remember when we nonchalantly shook hands,...
The daffodils and hyacinths are finally blooming in the yard, the ground isn’t quite as soggy as it was last week, and May is upon us. Ironically, unemployment is at...
It’s been more than a month since Town Meeting, and oh, what a month! In past years I published the results of the Legislative Survey, which 140 Charlotters filled out...
The unofficial slogan of the U.S. Marine Corps is “Improvise, Adapt, Overcome.” When faced with the unexpected, the success of a mission requires the ability to change tactics quickly....
The ubiquitous news regarding the novel Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to pervade our consciousness. The Vermont Department of Health, Vermont Emergency Management, and the various health care providers around the state...
The week before Town Meeting was intense as the legislature spent long hours debating, amending, and passing two major bills: the regulation and taxation of legal cannabis and revisions to...