By DON TURNER Chittenden-10 After a many long days and numerous starts and stops, the session finally came to an end on Tuesday, May 14 around 10:30 p.m. with the final gavel of the session. It is the custom of … Read more
Despite the governor’s pledge to hold harmless the towns charged with shorting the Education Fund, the municipalities identified in last year’s tax increment financing district audits all owe a sum back to the state, legislation passed this session states. Much … Read more
By DON TURNER Chittenden-10 Last week I reported that we were starting to see some positive movement toward a resolution of the concerns raised by the state auditor in regard to tax increment financing districts (TIF) in several communities, including … Read more
By DON TURNER Chittenden-10 The end of the session is near. The House passed S.77, an act related to patient choice and control at end of life, and H.270, providing access to publicly funded prekindergarten education, this week. We passed … Read more
By RON HUBERT Chittenden-10 This week we are starting to wind down with the session coming to an end May 11. The transportation bill is finished and was sent to the governor with a 6 cent increase in the gas … Read more
By DON TURNER Chittenden-10 The House completed debate on the marijuana decriminalization bill this week. I thought we had heard all of the reasons to either support or oppose this issue last Friday. However, that wasn’t to be the case, … Read more
When Armando Vilaseca immigrated to Miami in 1963, he spoke just a handful of English words. Today, the Cuban native is Vermont’s education secretary and uses that position to impress upon students the importance of being bilingual. Last week, Vilaseca … Read more
By DON TURNER Chittenden-10 The action on the House floor was relatively light this week. However, we did pass the capital construction bill, which will authorize $176 million in state capital construction and major maintenance projects, excluding transportation infrastructure, over … Read more
They haven’t met about it yet, but back-and-forth letters show State Auditor Doug Hoffer and Milton Town Manager Brian Palaia disagree wholly in interpreting an audit of Milton’s tax increment financing districts. The two exchanged tense, pointed letters this and … Read more
By Ron Hubert Chittenden-10 This past week at the Statehouse, the following bills have started to move along: The transportation bill was voted out of the Transportation Committee and has a 6.7 cent increase in the gas tax, with a … Read more