Legislative Wrap-up: Transportation
The Legislature raised the gas tax by 6 cents per gallon to avoid losing $60 million in federal transportation funds. And undocumented farmworkers in Vermont gained the right to obtain driving privilege cards.
Legislative Wrap-up: Agency fees
The legislation, S.14, requires an estimated 2,600 education, state and municipal employees who aren’t union members to pay fees of up to 85 percent of yearly union dues.
Legislative Wrap-up: Judiciary
Access to police investigation files, pension forfeiture for convicted state employees, limits on license plate readers among judiciary highlights.
Municipalities to pay back some money over TIF dispute
Burlington, Milton and Winooski to collectively pay $462,300 into various funds to resolve the dispute.
Lawmakers vote to end moratorium on cloud computing tax
Business that access software remotely will see their sales tax exemption expire in July.
Lawmakers open police records to public scrutiny
The Vermont Legislature has approved opening the criminal investigative files of police to public scrutiny, in a move modeling Vermont’s open records standards on a federal model. A conference committee to debate differences between the House and Senate on the legislation came to an agreement by Tuesday morning, said Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington. Senators like [...]
Campaign finance reform failure means caps on donations unlikely to occur until 2016 campaign cycle
Differences between House, Senate versions stall progress until January.
State troopers, Shumlin administration reach new contract deal
The Shumlin administration has brokered a new provisional contract with the union representing employees of the Vermont State Police. The contract with the Vermont Troopers’ Association lasts for two years, but must be ratified by the union’s membership. The state’s existing contract with the union, which covers pay and working conditions for 327 state police [...]
Advocates for child-care, deputy state’s attorneys unions vow to return next session
Effort to merge the proposals fell through in final days of session.
House ties up loose ends before final stretch
The Vermont House voted on three minor legislative changes before breaking for the weekend; they’ll return to wrap up business on Monday and Tuesday. House Judiciary Chair Bill Lippert, D-Hinesburg, tweaked an omnibus opiate bill to ensure that hashish is treated similarly to marijuana, regarding criminal consequences for possessing over 5 grams of hash, which [...]
