U.S. Sens. Bernie Sanders and Peter Welch this week named the members of the Vermont Judicial Nomination Advisory Panel, which was formed to help the senators review applications submitted for Vermont’s upcoming judicial vacancy.
The vacancy is created by the impending retirement of U.S. District Court Chief Judge Geoffrey Crawford. The panel consists of seven members chosen by the senators and the Vermont Bar Association, and with input from U.S. Rep. Becca Balint.
The panel includes:
Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group; Xusana Davis, State of Vermont Executive Director of Racial Equity; Barbara Prine, a staff attorney at Vermont Legal Aid; Lisa Shelkrot, a partner at Langrock Sperry & Wool; David F. Silver, a partner at Barr Sternberg Moss Silver & Munson; Shap Smith, former House speaker and a managing partner at Dinse; and Eleanor Spottswood, chair of the Vermont Judicial Nominating Board since 2019.
The panel will review the submitted applications, interview candidates, and make recommendations to Sanders and Welch. The senators will then select candidates from among the panel’s recommendations to submit to President Joe Biden for his final decision.
Similar panels were seated when recommending Judge Christina Reiss and Chief Judge Crawford to President Barack Obama in 2010 and 2014.
Bottle bill
The Vermont House of Representatives on Thursday overrode Gov. Phil Scott’s veto of legislation designed to modernize the state’s popular Bottle Bill program.
Even with five members who had supported the bill absent, the vote was 112-32, the override carried.
According to a news release, supporters included Democrats, Republicans, Progressives and independents. Every Democrat present voted in favor of the override with one exception, Kate McCann, of Montpelier.
A two-thirds margin was necessary for the override to prevail. Seventy-seven percent of the legislators present voted to override.
“This vote was not about politics, it was just about legislators doing the right thing for their constituents,” said Paul Burns, executive director of the Vermont Public Interest Research Group, one of the leading proponents of modernizing the Bottle Bill. “Legislators who looked closely at this bill, regardless of party, found that it will make the state’s most successful recycling law even better.”
Vermont’s Bottle Bill covers about 46% of beverages sold in the state. By contrast, Maine’s program has been updated so that it covers more than 90% of beverages.
In Vermont, a poll completed in 2021 found 88% of the state’s residents in support of the Bottle Bill, and 83% favored expanding it to cover more beverages as the current legislation would do.
Post office rally
Members of the state’s congressional delegation will be holding a rally at 12:30 p.m. Monday, Jan. 8, with members of the Montpelier community and the Montpelier Commission for Recovery and Resilience in an effort to restore the Capital City’s post office.
The rally will be held in front of the now-closed post office, which was heavily damaged by flooding in July.
“The residents of Montpelier need and deserve a restored post office in their community — just as Vermonters in every corner of our state deserve reliable service and postal workers deserve the safe and fair working conditions,” said the delegation in a statement.
All attendees must follow state Department of Health guidance and monitor symptoms for COVID. Attendees are encouraged to take a rapid test prior to the event.
Flood relief bill
Central Vermont lawmakers this week unveiled a flood relief bill, aimed at supporting communities ravaged by the July 2023 flooding and landslides.
“This omnibus legislation, tentatively titled the Flood Recovery Act, signifies a proactive legislature seeking to address both short and long term needs in the aftermath of the July and December weather events,” according to a news release.
The legislation is led by a coalition of Barre City and Montpelier lawmakers: Reps. Jonathan Williams and Peter Anthony, of Barre City; Reps. Kate McCann and Conor Casey, of Montpelier.
According to the release, the bill “is designed to provide crucial support and resources essential for the recovery and reconstruction process. It appropriates over $85 million towards tax relief, business grants, and funding for vital mitigation and preparedness endeavors.”
Gun safety
This week, Everytown for Gun Safety launched the updated “Gun Law Rankings” for 2024, an online tool and website that ranks all 50 states based on the strength of their gun laws and catalogs gun safety laws state by state. Vermont’s gun laws rank 18th in the nation, moving up two spots from last year.
According to a news release, in 2023, gun-sense legislators in Vermont took action to pass common-sense gun safety policies to create a 72-hour waiting period for gun purchases, enact a secure storage law, expand Vermont’s Extreme Risk law to allow family and household members to directly petition courts to temporarily limit access to guns by people in crisis, crack down on straw purchases and tampering with firearm serial numbers, invest in community violence prevention programs that address the root causes of violence.
In an average year, 77 people die and 65 are wounded by guns in Vermont.
After-school grants
The state Agency of Education this week announced funding to expand high-quality after-school and summer programs in Vermont.
This $3.5 million grant program is open to Vermont schools, as well as other municipal, private and nonprofit partners who can “offer accessible, enriching activities to youth,” according to a news release.
There will be a particular emphasis on scaling and starting programs in communities that currently have limited options.
“In 2020, I committed to building universal summer and afterschool options for all Vermont youth, to help them explore their passions, and to help working families,” said Gov. Phil Scott in a statement. “I look forward to continuing the work to close the gap, so all youth have afterschool or summer opportunities.”
The grants may be used to expand existing after-school programs, create new programs, or create comprehensive afterschool centers. Eligible recipients of the grant include state school systems, but also community-based organizations.
Go to education.vermont.gov/vermont-schools/school-finance for more information.
Taxation equity
The Fund Vermont’s Future coalition this week restated its proposal to raise revenue through taxes on the wealthiest Vermont residents.
“In the face of a statewide housing crisis, flood recovery response, and other pressing needs, the solution is to look for creative solutions, not to implement austerity budgeting. To adequately address the needs of the state, it is crucial to increase revenue,” said Anika Heilweil, of Fund Vermont’s Future.
According to a news release, “advocates are calling on the state’s elected officials to address the state’s budgetary pressures while acknowledging skyrocketing income and wealth inequality that has resulted in a small number of Vermont residents earning considerably more money while wages for the majority of Vermonters are not keeping up with rising costs of living.”
The Fund Vermont’s Future coalition includes Public Assets Institute, ACLU of Vermont, Vermont Conservation Voters, the Vermont Early Childhood Advocacy Alliance, Vermont Natural Resources Council, the Vermont NEA, and Voices for Vermont’s Children, as well as citizens Alex Hilliard, Hamdi Jafar and Amanda Janoo.
Liquor licenses
The Department of Liquor and Lottery has extended the annual license renewals for flood-impacted Vermont businesses by two months.
Seven hundred sixty-one businesses with a total of 2,476 licenses in 74 towns will receive the benefit of the license extension.
These businesses were selected because they are in towns most affected by the flooding based on data gathered by the Agency of Digital Services and the Department’s flood-impact survey of licensees, according to a news release.
By extending the license renewal date from April 30 to June 30, the department provides these businesses an additional 61 days on their 2023 licenses, with an economic value of $122,332.
“Following the lead of the governor, it has been a priority for the Department to find ways to support our business customers that were impacted by this summer’s flooding,” said Department of Liquor and Lottery Commissioner Wendy Knight.
The list of the identified towns with licenses extended by the department includes: Barnard, Barre, Barton, Bellows Falls, Bethel, Bradford, Brattleboro, Bridgewater, Brownsville, Cabot, Calais, Canaan, Cavendish, Chelsea, Chester, Concord, Craftsbury, East Burke, East Middlebury, Fairlee, Ferrisburgh, Grafton, Greensboro, Hardwick, Hartland, Hyde Park, Island Pond, Jeffersonville, Johnson, Londonderry, Lowell, Ludlow, Marlboro, Montpelier, Moretown, Morrisville, Newbury, Newfane, Newport, New Haven, Northfield, North Ferrisburgh, North Troy, Norwich, Orleans, Plainfield, Plymouth, Proctorsville, Putney, Randolph, Richmond, Quechee, Ripton, Saint Johnsbury, Rochester, Sharon, Shoreham, South Londonderry, Stowe, Troy, South Woodstock, Springfield, Weston, White River Junction, Wilmington, Windsor and Woodstock.
Appointments
The governor this week named two leadership appointments: Nate Formalarie as deputy commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Development; and Heather Pembrook as deputy commissioner of the Department of Environmental Conservation.
Formalarie has been with the Agency of Commerce and Community Development since 2018, most recently as the director of communications and strategic initiatives, and prior to that in the Department of Tourism and Marketing.
Pembrook has worked with the DEC since 1995, designing and implementing monitoring programs to better understand the chemical and biological health of Vermont’s lakes, ponds, rivers and streams. She was appointed as deputy commissioner in December 2023.
Grant deadline
The Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets has announced a new grant program targeting Vermont meat and produce growers and processors that will open for applications Jan. 19.
The new Meat and Produce Agriculture Development Grants program will award funding between $35,000 and $300,000 with no match requirement.
This one-time funding is intended to strengthen the viability and resiliency of Vermont operations and businesses performing production and processing activities. Approximately $1.6 million will be awarded to eligible operations and businesses through a single competitive grant application process. These funds were allocated by the Legislature in the 2024 fiscal year budget.
Marketing, agritourism, and research projects are not eligible. Nonprofit businesses and those producing fiber, hemp, cannabis, growing hydroponically or value-added only processing are not eligible.
Applications close at 2 p.m. Feb. 26.
There will be an informational webinar from 2 to 3 p.m. Jan. 16. A recording will be posted online shortly after.
Go to agriculture.vermont.gov/agriculture-development-grants#MeatProduce for more information.
Gaza conflict
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders this week restated his position that Congress should reject the $10.1 billion in unconditional military aid being considered for Israel.
“(We) must understand that Israel’s war against the Palestinian people has been significantly waged with U.S. bombs, artillery shells and other forms of weaponry. And the results have been catastrophic,” he said in a statement. Since Oct. 7, more than 22,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli strikes, two-thirds of these victims have been women and children. Another 57,000 have been wounded, he said, adding that’s since the start of the war, 1.9 million Palestinians have been driven from their homes.
Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Peter Welch issued a statement on the U.S. Secretary of State’s announcement of a major arms sale to Israel this week: “For the second time in a matter of weeks, the Secretary of State has approved the sale of tens of thousands of rounds of artillery ammunition to Israel, by circumventing Congress’s right of prior review. This type of heavy ammunition has been used to devastating effect in Gaza, contributing to the death and injury of countless civilians and the displacement of an estimated 2 million people who are facing daily bombardment without access to adequate food, water, shelter or medical care. … The President should follow the established procedure of submitting his arms sales recommendations to Congress for prior approval.”
Compiled by the staffs of The Times Argus and Rutland Herald.
