Politicker.com -- Vermont News

[vt.Buzz] $28 million in Vt. state budget cuts

noreply@blogger.com (vt.Buzz) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:25:00 -0400

Today in Montpelier, the Douglas administration released a list of $28 million in budget cuts to the Legislature's Joint Fiscal Committee. The cuts are based on how much the economists expected revenues coming into the state to shrink.

The cuts come in bits and pieces all over state government. They include $6.8 million left over from last year and $7 million in labor savings that means we'll have another dance between the union and the administration over contract concessions and if not those, then layoffs. A $565,000 cut to the Legislature would mean a shorter 2010 session.

The Joint Fiscal Committee did not vote on the plan, but has 21 days to do so.

You can read more about it in Thursday's Free Press.

- Terri Hallenbeck

[Vermont Tiger] How The Public Sector Flies

Geoffrey Norman — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:22:00 -0400

Congress is buying itself three new airplanes. Understandable. Anyone who has a choice would avoid flying commercial these days. But why new airplanes at a time when we are looking at a deficit that might soar past $2 trillion and...

[Vermont Daily Briefing] National Press Omits Racist, Anti-Obama Aspects of PA Fitness Center Shooter’s Diary

Philip Baruth — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 13:13:00 -0400

Two related news stories, one you couldn’t miss, and the other you almost couldn’t find: a gunman opened fire on a women’s exercise class last night at a fitness center in the Pittsburgh area, and this same gunman kept a diary filled with racist rants, some directed explicitly at President Obama. Again, coverage [...]

[Vermont Tiger] Smokey Mountain Coffee Roasters?

Michael Gardner — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:54:00 -0400

The noon hour broke what could be some exciting news in VT. Our iconic Green Mountain Coffee Roasters might be heading out of town. Despite the arguments from our legislators that Vermont is full of truly bright people, and that...

[Vermont Tiger] Emerson Lynn On Politics

Geoffrey Norman — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:48:00 -0400

Electing PSB board members is a lousy idea Transparency is today’s political buzz word, something enforced by the lack thereof during the Bush administration. Make something transparent and the public is easier to engage which puts those in charge more...

[Burlington Free Press] The Flanagan debate

noreply@blogger.com (vt.Buzz) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:14:00 -0400

As you read in today's Free Press, Sen. Ed Flanagan is no longer sure if he's running for lieutenant governor. He says he realized it was too early and he'll make a decision after the next legislative session, which ends in May.

Flanagan, of course, has reasons to reconsider. He has been accused of inappropriate behavior in the men's fitness center of the Burlington YMCA. He denies the allegations, though he says that as a result of the brain injury he suffered in a near-fatal 2005 car accident he has found his "discretionary capabilities" are off-kilter.

I spoke to many of his Senate colleagues yesterday to see whether they thought he could continue as a senator or as a lt.

[BurlingtonPol.com] Family Portrait By Ash

noreply@blogger.com (Haik Bedrosian) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 06:09:00 -0400

Courtesy of Ash Larose Photography

[Fair Game] Now Look Who's in Charge

Shay Totten — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 02:30:00 -0400

When Democrats overrode the budget veto of Gov. Jim Douglas in June, they made Vermont history. Never before had lawmakers overturned a budget veto, and never before had they overturned two vetoes in one session.

More explicitly, never had Democrats — despite holding significant majorities in the House and Senate for the past six years — successfully held their ground against Gov. Douglas.

[Burlington Free Press] D.C. doings

noreply@blogger.com (vt.Buzz) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:55:00 -0400

A little update on the day's events in Washington, when they weren't busy not deciding what to do about clunker cars:

- Today the Senate voted to boost money for food stamps and three in $350 million to the o lift milk price supports — the amount the government pays for surplus milk products — by an estimated $1.50 per hundredweight. That came from an amendment by Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and barely passed 60-37. Sixty votes were required because the amendment broke budget rules.
According to the AP: Sanders said dairy farmers, especially smaller ones, are struggling badly as milk prices have plummeted by more than 40 percent below last year, well below most farmers' production costs.

[Vermont Tiger] No Deal

Geoffrey Norman — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 14:31:00 -0400

Budget negotiations between the legislature and the administration – which had been going on all weekend and today – broke down at about 2:20 with no prospects of a deal before 5:00 PM when Governor Douglas will veto the budget...