The bill sets almost $19 million aside to keep those currently in hotels there until May 31. After that, eligibility will narrow.
Spending package extending emergency housing becomes law without Scott’s signature
Tag: Phil Scott
Final Reading: Many bills made it across the crossover threshold. Some did not.
Friday was the deadline for bills to clear their committee of origin. Those that didn’t are unlikely to become law this session.
Vermont Secretary of Education Dan French to depart for education administrators’ nonprofit
French, who has served in the cabinet post since 2018, will leave for a job at the Council of Chief State School Officers.
Final Reading: Stakeholders scramble to compromise on fossil fuel divestment
The current version of the bill would require the Vermont Pension Investment Commission to create a plan to divest Vermont’s three statutory pension plans — with a few exemptions — from the fossil fuel industry by 2031.
In housing program, motels named their price. What did Vermont’s most vulnerable get in exchange?
With nowhere else to go — and even fewer rights than a typical renter — Vermonters relying on a state-run program for shelter have had little recourse when they’ve run into poor treatment or conditions.
Renewed THC potency proposal stirs the pot in Senate
A bill in the committee, S.72, would remove the current statutory limit of 60% for concentrates sold in shops — products like hashish and oils and waxes that contain higher amounts of the chemical in cannabis that gets people high.
Final Reading: A lawmaker’s quest to legalize funeral pyres
The Legislature last year approved a bill legalizing the organic decomposition of bodies, and Rep. Matt Birong, D-Vergennes, is using that bill as his framework for H.216.
House, Senate negotiators strike emergency housing deal, restricting eligibility after May 31
Discussions about what to do in the short term about Vermont’s emergency housing program in hotels have been underway as part of the Legislature’s annual budget adjustment bill, or H.145, a spending plan passed early during each session to true-up the current fiscal year’s budget.
Judge puts off accepting plea deal in Burlington murder case amid competency concerns
The deferred agreement is the latest twist in the case against Louis Fortier, accused of stabbing another man to death on Burlington’s Church Street in March 2017. Judge John Pacht cited concerns after hearing from Fortier that he believed the CIA was tracking him.
Matthew Bernstein appointed Vermont’s first child, youth and family advocate
Bernstein has extensive experience advocating for those impacted by the child welfare system and has worked with state agencies and legislatures.