By Alan J. Keays, VTDigger.org The Senate has given preliminary approval to a bill that would require universal background checks for the private sale of firearms in the state, a measure that had stalled before becoming a top priority in the wake of a school s... More »
By Xander Landen, VTDigger.org The House gave its preliminary approval Thursday for a bill that would allow law enforcement officers to use saliva tests to screen drivers for marijuana and six other drugs. Supporters of H.237 say the legislation would improve ... More »
By Alan J. Keays, VTDigger.org RUTLAND TOWN — Dick’s Sporting Goods says it will no longer sell assault-style rifles and will not sell any guns to anyone under 21, a policy that would have prevented a Vermont teen accused of plotting a school shooting from buy... More »
By Colin Meyn, VTDigger.org Senators gave their unanimous seal of approval on Wednesday to the first of what is expected to be a series of gun control laws after a thwarted school shooting in Fair Haven — following a mass shooting at a Florida high school — “j... More »
By Colin Meyn and Anne Galloway, VTDigger.org Vermont is moving to end its current contract with Camp Hill prison in Pennsylvania, officials said on Thursday, following reports of deaths, abuse and poor treatment of Vermont inmates. Secretary of Human Services... More »
By Mike Faher, VTDigger.org Should Vermonters be legally required to buy health insurance? Officials are struggling with that question, and legislative testimony on Thursday showed there is no consensus on how or when to enact a state “individual mandate.” T... More »
By Alan J. Keays, VTDigger.org A second House panel started taking testimony Wednesday on a bill that would allow for saliva testing to detect the presence of drugs in motorists, hearing talk of legal challenges and suggested changes to safeguard the legislati... More »
By Elizabeth Hewitt, VTDigger.org Migrant Justice is planning a protest this week against the detention of a farmworker by immigration authorities near the Vermont-Canada border earlier this month. The group, which represents immigrant farmworkers, says that J... More »
By Elizabeth Hewitt, VTDigger.org The Vermont Senate on Thursday advanced a measure that would raise the state’s hourly minimum wage to $15 by 2024. The bill, S.40, would incrementally hike the state’s minimum wage over the next six years, from the current lev... More »
By Alan J. Keays, VTDigger.org Guidebook author and public TV travel show host Rick Steves told a Senate panel on Thursday that when pot became legal in his home state of Washington he didn’t smoke more marijuana, he just no longer felt a criminal when he did.... More »
By Kelsey Neubauer, VTDigger.org Gov. Phil Scott has told the leaders of both the Vermont House and Senate that he wants the Legislature to act quickly to pass equal pay bills, so he can sign them into law before Town Meeting Day on March 6. In a letter sent t... More »
By Tiffany Danitz Pache, VTDigger.org Vermont’s school spending in the past year is coming in far below expectations, meaning property owners will see a significant drop in expected taxes. The tax department had predicted a 3.5 percent increase in school spend... More »
