I’d venture that most high school buildings do not have escalators. Not in Vermont at least. Burlington’s high school students, however, have a big one, right smack in the middle of their makeshift school at the former Macy’s department store.
For five years, the former outlet has served as a temporary home for Burlington High School students. Why? In 2020, high levels of airborne polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs — a known carcinogen — were discovered at their former high school building.
It forced the district and city to demolish the old high school building and construct a new one. It’s set to open (hopefully) by the start of the fall semester.
The situation prompted Vermont lawmakers to create a state-led testing program, mandating strict limits on the level of PCBs in Vermont’s schools — limits that went well beyond federal Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.
But it has since cost the state millions of dollars, has been a general source of anxiety for superintendents awaiting testing at their districts and has exacerbated the already dire state of Vermont’s aging school buildings.
Now, lawmakers are mulling whether to end the first-of-its-kind program altogether. A bill, introduced last week by House Education Committee Chair Rep. Peter Conlon, D-Cornwall, would terminate any scheduled testing for PCBs in Vermont’s schools.
Schools that have already tested positive would still have remediation and removal costs covered by the state under the bill.
State money to fund the program has since run dry, though. Michael O’Grady, a legislative attorney, said that although the Legislature intended to pay for all of the related testing and remediation, “the reality is those costs were much more than the money that’s available.”
Conlon, meanwhile, called the testing program “the mother of all unfunded mandates.”
It wouldn’t be the first time lawmakers in the House tried to repeal the testing program.
“The bottom line is, if we’re going to do this, we’ve got to put our money where our mouth is, and say we’re going to pay for everything,” Conlon said Wednesday.
It’s questionable whether other lawmakers will jump on board. But in Vermont’s current political environment — where there appears to be broad agreement that education costs too much — perhaps we’ve reached a tipping point.
Still, the ethics of ending a testing program to detect known carcinogens could get complicated. Rep. Leanne Harple, D-Glover, questioned whether lawmakers might be doing more harm than good in ending the program.
Conlon noted that the point of the bill “is not to say PCBs are dangerous or not dangerous. It’s not about the science, it’s about the funding.”
Still, it “doesn’t mitigate the reality that they are dangerous,” Harple said.
“I understand why we’re doing this,” she added. “I’m really torn on, what is the human cost, if we’re making a mistake.”
— Corey McDonald
In the know
House Republicans hosted a press conference Wednesday afternoon, and like their Senate counterparts — and Democrats too, for that matter — they highlighted an agenda focused on affordability.
Central to that agenda is education reform — and following through on the path started by last year’s Act 73.
“We also stand ready to follow through on desperately needed education reform. We all know the status quo is unacceptable,” Rep. Pattie McCoy, R-Poultney, the House minority leader, said. “It’s leading to higher and higher taxes with declining performance. Last year, we started on a transformation path, and it’s critical we stay the course.”
McCoy also said the GOP Caucus intends to pursue repeals of the Global Warming Solutions Act and Clean Heat Act.
— Ethan Weinstein
State officials steering the $195 million federal grant for rural health care transformation told the Senate Committee on Health and Welfare this morning how they are working to put that money into use under a tight deadline.
Things have moved fast and loose with the federal agency administering the funds to the state. When Vermont learned it had been awarded the grant in late December, the agency had little information about the process and timeline set by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Wednesday, officials had slightly more insight.
The federal agency just sent the Vermont Agency of Human Services a welcome packet, said Jill Mazza Olson, who oversees the agency’s Medicaid and health systems and led the grant application. CMS has yet to meet with representatives from the state, she added.
Committee members were particularly concerned about which providers will qualify as “rural,” making them eligible to receive the funds. Chittenden County is the one part of the state that does not fit the definition of rural that the feds have been using; but, the county is also home to the state’s only high-acuity center.
“I’m concerned about (Chittenden County) for a lot of different reasons, not simply because it’s my district,” said Sen. Ginny Lyons, D-Chittenden Southeast, the committee chair. “But also because it’s fundamental to care in the state.”
For now, Olson’s understanding is that all providers in Vermont are eligible for the rural health transformation grant funds, regardless of location, so long as the money benefits rural patients. But, if one thing’s clear about how these rural health dollars are set to be used, it’s that the state still needs to learn a whole lot more.
— Olivia Gieger
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott wants to use the state’s annual midyear budget tuneup to set aside $75 million for property tax relief. But legislative leaders said they would rather hold on to that money, at least for the time being.
“It’s just not appropriate to be doing it at this point in time,” said Rep. Robin Scheu, D-Middlebury, who chairs the budget-writing House Appropriations Committee.
At issue is how lawmakers will contend with the nearly 12% average increase in property taxes projected this year across the state. To blunt that expected hike, Scott wants to include about $75 million in this year’s Budget Adjustment Act.
Read more about the governor’s plan, and legislators’ response, here.
— Shaun Robinson
A new reporter? In this economy?!
You might have noticed a new(ish) name on yesterday’s edition of Final Reading — Charlotte Oliver. Charlotte, a former VTDigger intern, joined the newsroom full-time this week as a general assignment reporter. During the session, she’ll be a regular contributor to our Statehouse coverage. You’ll probably see her lurking around the judiciary and corrections committees. Say hi! And, let her know what she needs to know: coliver@vtdigger.org.
— Shaun Robinson
