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Author: Lola Duffort

Lola Duffort is a political reporter for VTDigger, covering Vermont state government, the congressional delegation and elections. She previously covered education for Digger, the Concord Monitor in New Hampshire and the Rutland Herald. She has also freelanced for the Miami Herald in Florida, where she grew up. She is a graduate of McGill University in Canada.
 

Vermont Democrats hire Jim Dandeneau as new interim executive director

By Lola Duffort

May 13 2022May 13, 2022

skyline of Montpelier

Dandeneau led the Democrats’ campaign to recruit candidates for the Vermont House in 2018, the year the party picked up 12 seats to clinch a veto-proof supermajority with Progressives in the chamber.


Your final Final Reading (for now)

By Riley Robinson, Sarah Mearhoff and Lola Duffort

May 12 2022May 12, 2022

The final days of the legislative session feel sort of like the final days of a busy school year. The desks get messier, covered in papers flagged with sticky notes. There’s cramming. Retiring senators scratch their names into their desks before heading out. 


Vermont Legislature adjourns, ending ‘the Covid biennium’

By Sarah Mearhoff and Lola Duffort

May 12 2022May 12, 2022

Five months ago, lawmakers filed into the Statehouse donning masks, then quickly returned to hybrid legislating. A lot has changed since then.


House Ways and Means Chair Janet Ancel is not running for reelection

By Lola Duffort

May 12 2022May 13, 2022

Rep. Janet Ancel has been a fixture in Montpelier for decades. She served as then-Gov. Howard Dean’s legal counsel from 1993 to 2000, and his tax commissioner from 2000 to 2002.


House and Senate lawmakers approve deal on child tax credit

By Lola Duffort

May 12 2022May 12, 2022

If enacted into law, the final compromise between the two chambers would send families $1,000 per child 5 or under. Households making $125,000 or less would be eligible for the full credit. It would impact an estimated 33,000 children in the state.


Final Reading: To the scrap heap

By Riley Robinson, Sarah Mearhoff and Lola Duffort

May 11 2022May 11, 2022

Things are quickly ending up on the cutting room floor as lawmakers hustle to adjourn.


Sen. Chris Pearson is not running for reelection

By Lola Duffort

May 11 2022May 11, 2022

The Burlington Progressive was appointed to fill a vacancy in the Vermont House in 2006, and has been on the ballot every two years since. Only one incumbent in the district running for re-election.


Final Reading: Not nuthin'

By Lola Duffort, Sarah Mearhoff and Riley Robinson

May 10 2022May 10, 2022

Thomas Bock

House lawmakers narrowly failed to override Gov. Phil Scott’s vetoes on two bills: A Burlington charter change that would ban no-cause evictions, and the clean heat standard. Each failed by just one vote — and seemed to blindside legislative leadership.


Vermont lawmakers strike a budget deal

By Lola Duffort

May 9 2022May 10, 2022

The Republican governor and the Democratic-controlled Legislature are still quite far apart on key line items, including housing, economic development and taxes.


Final Reading: Full plates

By Lola Duffort, Sarah Mearhoff and Riley Robinson

May 6 2022May 6, 2022

Jay Nichols

Last fall, Vermont school staff asked lawmakers to hold off on passing new education laws in the upcoming legislative session. But roughly seven months later, as the legislative session nears its end, lawmakers’ plates have been full when it comes to education bills.


House overrides Scott's pension reform veto, enacting it into law

By Lola Duffort

May 6 2022May 6, 2022

The vote was 148-0. The Senate voted to override the governor’s veto — also unanimously — on Wednesday. This is the first time a veto has been unanimously overridden in both chambers in state history, according to the House speaker’s office.


Mike Pieciak, former financial regulation commissioner, is running for Vermont state treasurer

By Lola Duffort

May 6 2022May 6, 2022

Pieciak is the first to announce his candidacy for the post. Beth Pearce, who has served as treasurer since 2011, announced Wednesday that she would not run for re-election this year, and has endorsed Pieciak.


Final Reading: A first in a frame

By Lola Duffort, Sarah Mearhoff and Riley Robinson

May 5 2022May 5, 2022

After months of anticipation and delays, a crowd packed into the Statehouse lobby Thursday to watch the unveiling of a new portrait: Alexander Twilight, the first person of African descent to serve in a state Legislature and to graduate from a U.S. college.


Anthony Pollina to retire from the Vermont Senate

By Lola Duffort

May 5 2022May 8, 2022

Anthony Pollina

Pollina will have been a member of the state Senate for 12 years when his term ends in January. But he has been a fixture in progressive Vermont politics since the 1980s.


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Obituaries

Emma Franca Ottolenghi, doctor, activist, grandmother Arthur G. Krueger, engineer, man of many talents, grandfather Robert Guilford Kitchel, student of history, reader, father Robert Guilford Kitchel, student of history, reader, father Prudence Putnam Frost Baker, physical therapist, lake lover, grandmother

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Commentary

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Politics

Abortion-rights campaign poised to spend heavily in Vermont election

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VTDigger launches 2022 Election Guide

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Sen. Patrick Leahy recovering from hip surgery after falling at home

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Burlington City Council approves sweeping restrictions on short-term rentals

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Gray, Balint campaigns tussle over super PACs, though none have entered the race

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