While the earliest date retail cannabis establishments can begin selling their products to the public is still more than a year away, many are getting ready to set up shop.
Hopeful cannabis entrepreneurs prepare for Vermont’s new legal market
Author: Xander Landen
Xander Landen is VTDigger's political reporter. He previously worked at the Keene Sentinel covering crime, courts and local government. Xander got his start in public radio, writing and producing stories for NPR affiliates including WBUR in Boston and WNYC in New York. While at WNYC, he contributed to an award-winning investigation of how police departments shield misconduct records from the public. He is a graduate of Tufts University and his work has also appeared in PBS NewsHour and The Christian Science Monitor.
Gray raises $50,000, other leaders report small gains in campaign finance filings
Lt. Gov. Molly Gray is the only state leader who is actively fundraising ahead of next year’s election, according to the filings released on July 1.
Scott vetoes housing bill with rental registry, statewide inspection system
Updated at 4:46 p.m. Gov. Phil Scott on Friday vetoed legislation that would have set up a rental registry, and statewide system to enforce property safety standards. The governor said that the bill, S.79, would "reduce the number of housing options for Vermonters at a time when we are grappling with a critical housing shortage." […]
Homeless Vermonters with disabilities receive 14-day housing extension
An order signed by a state judge Wednesday will give residents experiencing homelessness an additional 14 days to prove that they have a disability before they have to leave hotels and motels.
Legal Aid sues state to stop emergency housing restrictions from taking effect
New eligibility requirements are too narrow, Vermont Legal Aid says, and will leave homeless Vermonters with disabilities without housing after July 1.
New state laws on sexual consent, health care and alcohol sales take effect July 1
Laws affecting the environment, prison reform and property taxes will all kick in Thursday, which also starts a new fiscal year with a $7.32 billion state budget.
As July approaches, homeless Vermonters prepare to leave hotels and motels
The phaseout of the emergency motel program is alarming advocates and community service providers, who say that the transition is too abrupt, and will leave some without a place to live.
Vermont Senate overrides vetoes of noncitizen voting measures, approves housing bill
Senators voted 20-10 to overturn the governor’s vetoes, thereby giving noncitizens in Winooski and Montpelier the right to vote in local elections.
Vermont House overrides Scott’s vetoes of noncitizen voting measures
The bills would give noncitizens voting rights in local elections in Montpelier and Winooski. The Senate votes next on overriding the vetoes.
Scott raises concerns about rental registry in housing bill expected to pass this week
The governor said the bill “creates more bureaucracy” and expense at the state level: “I don't think that we've fully contemplated how much that will in effect cost us.”
What will next week’s veto session look like?
Lawmakers will look to revive the three bills Gov. Phil Scott killed this year and pass a sweeping housing reform bill that Republicans blocked in May.
The Deeper Dig: Ending the Covid emergency
Now that the state’s emergency declaration has ended, advocates are nervous that the boost in social services over the past 15 months will be coming to an end too.
Vermont leaders push to redirect federal relief funds for counties to towns and cities
Officials want to change guidance from the U.S. Treasury and send $121 million of federal aid to Vermont municipalities instead of counties, which have little governing authority.
‘Flip of the switch’: How the end of Vermont’s emergency order could affect evictions, social services
Gov. Phil Scott’s decision to lift the state of emergency triggers an end to the state’s eviction moratorium in 30 days. It could also reduce funding for food and housing programs.
