Page 2 - Better Places Program News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

Hobsons Bay has now launched its Better Places Program in Brooklyn and Altona North. After recent success in Laverton, Spotswood […]

Business The unemployment bill formerly known as S.10 – Business owners had their most challenging year in memory. Many hoped that the legislature, knowing this, would have sought to offset their challenges. Unfortunately leveling unemployment tax rates was considered by some to be too much help. One of the most contentious negotiations of the session centered on the formula that determines the Unemployment Insurance Trust Fund balance. Recent years' unemployment rates are entered into the calculation, and many experts felt that 2020 was an anomaly and should be removed from the formula giv...

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.   The 2021 legislative session will go down in the history books. This pandemic has revealed the gaps and inequities in our system and has demanded bold action and creative thinking to position our state to recover stronger than we came into this crisis. Centering equity and supporting Vermont’s creative economy will be critical to our economic recovery and community revitalization as we emerge from this pandemic. This session I was proud to work with community and cultural leaders to champion two bills that aimed to spark momentum, eng...

[co-author: Jessica Griswold] Senate passes budget On Friday, the Senate gave final approval to the $7.17 billion FY 2022 budget, H.439. Senate Appropriations Chair Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, called it “as complicated a budget as I’ve ever had to put together in my time in the Senate” due to the flood of federal aid to Vermont for coronavirus relief and an unexpected $211 million revenue surplus. The bill spends $478.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, while incorporating only a portion of Gov. Scott’s ARPA spending proposal. Kitchel said the governor’s plan did not...

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.   In the last two weeks, we have taken many steps to improve the lives of Vermonters. I’ll take a few moments to focus on several of them. H.159, among other things, creates the Better Places Program and makes a strong commitment to our Vermont State Colleges (VSC). We allocate $20.5 million to the State College system to be focused on workforce development in the fields of childcare, nursing, accounting, and mental health counseling, as well as scholarships for Vermont students who want to complete their degrees or return home from out...