Elections

Story + Video: Galbraith launches Democratic bid for governor

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Peter Galbraith announces his candidacy for governor Tuesday in the Cedar Creek Room of the State House in Montpelier. (Times Argus/Stefan Hard)

https://youtu.be/Vj5E8T4btGM

MONTPELIER — Peter Galbraith, a former Democratic state senator from Windham County, launched a campaign for governor Tuesday, promising to change a system of government that favors special interests over regular Vermonters. “I am a candidate for governor of Vermont,” Galbraith said at a State House news conference Tuesday morning. “This is a remarkable state, but that doesn’t mean we should continue to do things as we have.”

Galbraith, 65, served two terms in the Senate before announcing in 2014 that he would not seek re-election. The former diplomat was appointed United Nations’ Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan in 2009, and served as the first U.S. ambassador to Croatia under former President Bill Clinton. The Townsend resident, who will join a Democratic gubernatorial primary that already includes Matt Dunne, a former Windsor County state senator, and Sue Minter, a former secretary of the Agency of Transportation, promised he would run the state differently than others. Continue Reading →

Budget and Spending

State and VSEA send labor contract dispute to the Labor Relations Board

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Secretary of Administration Justin Johnson

MONTPELIER — A labor contract dispute between the Vermont State Employees Association and the state is now before the Vermont Labor Relations Board, which will hold a hearing early next month on the ongoing disagreement. Both parties have agreed to seek a two-year labor contract to succeed the current deal set to expire on June 30. But coming to terms on the finer details of deal has been elusive. After reaching an impasse in negotiations, both sides agreed to mediation, but still did not find agreement. A fact finder was appointed and held two hearings in January. Continue Reading →

Appropriations

House Appropriations passes budget with a 2.6 percent increase

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House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, right, confers with Rep. Kitty Toll, D-Danville, center. (VPB/Neal Goswami)

MONTPELIER — The House Appropriations Committee voted to advance a 2017 fiscal year state budget Monday on a 10 to 1 vote that will hit the House floor later this week. According to the Legislature’s Joint Fiscal Office, general fund spending under the committee-passed budget is set to rise by nearly $58.88 million, or 4 percent, from $1.48 billion to $1.54. The total budget is set to rise by about $144 million, or 2.6 percent, from $5.63 billion to $5.77 billion. That includes an increase in federal funds of about 2.2 percent, rising to $2.04 billion. Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, said the committee has made gains with structural problems in the state budget that critics have complained about for years. Continue Reading →

Elections

Peter Galbraith plans Tuesday announcement

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Peter Galbraith

MONTPELIER — Former Democratic Windham County Sen. Peter Galbraith has registered as a candidate for governor and will announce his political plans at a State House news conference Tuesday. Galbraith, who served two terms in the Senate, decided not to seek re-election in 2014. He registered with the Secretary of State’s office Monday and updated his political Facebook page to “Peter Galbraith for VT Governor.”

Galbraith has been mulling a bid for governor for several months. He recently participated in a news conference by Democratic gubernatorial candidate Matt Dunne to denounce corporate donations to political campaigns. Galbraith, 65, is a resident of Townsend. Continue Reading →

Budget and Spending

Ways and Means approves $14.1 million of new revenue in tax bill

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MONTPELIER — The House tax writing committee has advanced a revenue bill that raises $14.1 in new money for the general fund and other special funds, but some lawmakers say it is just a fraction of the $48 million in new revenue the committee is expected to raise in total. The House Ways and Means Committee voted Wednesday night 7 to 4 to approve a miscellaneous tax bill — before the House Appropriations Committee has completed work on its budget. That has some members of Ways and Means complaining that budget writers have little incentive to make cuts to state spending. Rep. Janet Ancel, D-Calais, the committee’s chairwoman, said she took the unusual step of voting on a revenue package before the budget is finalized because some members of the committee will be out for an extended period. “I have two members of the committee who aren’t going to be here,” she said. Continue Reading →

Business & Economics

House lawmakers look to “ban the box”

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MONTPELIER — House lawmakers have given their overwhelming endorsement to a bill intended to make it easier for people with criminal histories to find employment. By a vote of 138 to 5, the House give preliminary approval to a bill that would — for the most part — prohibit employers from inquiring of a prospective employee’s criminal background on an application form. “The House’s vote to ban the box is a vote for compassion, redemption and opportunity,” House Speaker Shap Smith said after the vote. “The current policy of screening for criminal histories in preliminary job applications puts a barrier in the way of successfully finding employment. By removing this wall, Vermonters will have more opportunities to succeed.”

The bill still has a ways to go, pending a final vote of House lawmakers today and approval by the Senate. Continue Reading →

U.S. Congress

U.S. Senate fails to block Vermont food labeling law

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MONTPELIER — Vermont lawmakers, both here and in the nation’s capital, are celebrating a failed attempt at the federal level to nullify the state’s food labeling bill. On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate failed to come up with enough votes for a bill that would prohibit state’s such as Vermont from enacting laws requiring food manufacturers to disclose ingredients that include genetically modified organisms, or GMOs. Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who led the charge against the proposed federal legislation, celebrated the vote. “This was a hard-fought victory for Vermont, on our state’s right to honor Vermonters’ right to know what’s in the food they buy,” Leahy said. “Our defense of Vermont’s law has been fought with skill and determination in the courts, under the leadership of Governor Shumlin and others, and in the Congress.”

Leahy was joined by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. Continue Reading →

News

Proposal To Raise Vermont Smoking Age To 21 Defeated After Surprise Tie Vote

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Vermont Speaker of the House Rep. Shap Smith, D-Morrisville, announces Tuesday at an impromptu press conference on the State House steps that he is no longer seeking the governor's seat to spend more time with his family following a diagnosis of breast cancer for his wife, Melissa. (Times Argus/Stefan Hard)

MONTPELIER — A stunning turn of events in Montpelier saw the Vermont House this afternoon very nearly passed a measure to raise the state’s smoking age froom 18 to 21. But after 71-71 vote put the fate of the proposal in the hands of House Speaker Shap Smith, the Morrisville Democrat killed the measure without actually casting a tie-breaking vote. The proposal was part of amendment to a bill regulating electronic cigarettes, and it would have raised the age at which people can possess or purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21 over a three-year period. House leaders didn’t expect the proposal to garner as much support as it did. But eleventh-hour soul-searching by at least one Democrat, as well as some surprise ‘yes’ votes from several conservative Republicans, resulted in a tie vote. Continue Reading →

Courts & Judiciary

Vermont’s congressional delegation backs SCOTUS nominee

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Judge Merrick Garland, chief judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, speaks at the White House Wednesday after he was announced as President Barack Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court. (Photo courtesy of Sen. Patrick Leahy)

MONTPELIER — Vermont’s congressional delegation is strongly backing President Barack Obama’s Supreme Court nominee and urging the GOP to abandon its promise to prevent the confirmation process from taking place. Obama announced the nomination of Judge Merrick Garland, chief judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, at the White House Wednesday. Garland, 63, is seen as a moderate, consensus pick, but faces extreme opposition from Republicans in the Senate who believe the next president should be the one to nominate a justice. The president did his best Wednesday to undermine the Republican position. “I have fulfilled my constitutional duty. Continue Reading →

Bernie Sanders

Rough night for Sanders as path to nomination erodes

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Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., speaks at a campaign rally at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Tuesday, March 15, 2016. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

MONTPELIER — Sen. Bernie Sanders had tough day Tuesday, unable to recreate the electoral magic he found with working class voters a week ago in Michigan and lost to his Democratic primary rival Hillary Clinton in Ohio, Illinois, North Carolina and Florida. Sanders is also narrowly trailing Clinton in Missouri in a race that was still too close to call Wednesday morning. Clinton had a lead of about 1,500 votes there as of 7 a.m. Wednesday, and appeared poised to grab the fifth state up for grabs Tuesday. The loss in Ohio cuts deep for Sanders, who had hoped to raise questions about Clinton’s viability and cement his political clout in the Rust Belt with a win in Ohio. But it is now Sanders who is struggling to explain his viability in the Democratic primary. Continue Reading →