TexasTowelie
TexasTowelie's JournalTit for tat over stats: Senate leader says Scott labor loss figures are wrong
The leader of the Senate picked a fight Thursday with Gov. Phil Scott over the administration’s oft-used slogan 6-3-1.
The six stands for the number of workers the state loses every day; the three represents the number of students disappearing from schools across the state on a daily basis; and the one refers to the number of babies born each day to a mother addicted to drugs.
Senate President Pro Tem Tim Ashe says that the first statistic in the governor’s metric is “completely incorrect” because it is based on “dated information” that was “cherry picked.”
“For the last year and a half we’re getting an average of 2.3 people in the labor force,” Ashe said. “It’s not the same as six leaving the labor force. Six can’t be leaving if we have two coming every day.”
Read more: https://vtdigger.org/2018/02/02/tit-tat-stats-senate-leader-says-scott-labor-loss-figures-wrong/
Tech spending slashed in Medicaid administration budget
Officials have cut $22.5 million from the Department of Vermont Health Access proposed budget for next fiscal year.
But the reduction is not all that it seems, Commissioner Cory Gustafson told the House Appropriations Committee Thursday.
Rather than slicing deep into staff or programs, Gustafson said most of the savings comes from crafting a more realistic budget for design, development and implementation of technology projects. That brings the fiscal 2019 budget more in line with what the state actually will spend, Gustafson said.
“I think it’s about being a little bit more thoughtful about what we can do in a year,” he said.
Read more: https://vtdigger.org/2018/02/02/tech-spending-slashed-medicaid-administration-budget/
Shitty topic of the night: Scott outlines hope to remove phosphorus from manure
Gov. Phil Scott sketched out a plan at a dairy conference Thursday that could include making money from the pollutant plaguing Vermont’s waterways — phosphorus.
The proposal to “crowdsource” ideas to remove phosphorus from cow manure included no specific reduction goals and could take a minimum of 18 to 24 months to implement.
Scott brought along three agency heads to help outline the proposal. They insisted the technology exists to extract phosphorus from manure to be sold or combined with other products.
The presentation was made at the Vermont Farm Show at the Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Junction. Dairy dairy farms are the largest contributors to the overload of phosphorus that has caused cyanobacteria blooms and closed beaches on Lake Champlain. The state is under a federal order to reduce the phosphorus levels.
Read more: https://vtdigger.org/2018/02/02/scott-outlines-hope-remove-phosphorus-manure/
Ukrainian-born billionaire under investigation by special counsel gave thousands to NH politicians
A number of prominent New Hampshire politicians, on both sides of the aisle, received thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from a Ukrainian-born billionaire who is reportedly under investigation by Robert Mueller’s team for his 2016 campaign donations to political funds controlled by Donald Trump.
In September, ABC News reported the special counsel’s investigation had begun looking into nearly $2 million in campaign contributions from three Americans with Russian business connections. One of the businessmen is Leonard Blavatnik, a dual citizen of the U.S. and U.K., who is ranked by Forbes as the 40th wealthiest person in the world with a net worth of $21 billion.
After emigrating to the U.S. in 1978 when he was twenty-one years old, Blavatnik obtained U.S. citizenship and earned advanced degrees from Columbia and Harvard Business School. He then returned to Russia, where he made his fortune in the wake of the Soviet Union’s collapse, becoming business partners with Russian oligarchs who now have close ties to President Vladimir Putin.
Viktor Vekselberg, Blavatnik’s classmate from the Moscow Institute of Transport Engineers, has been named the richest man in Russia and reportedly holds frequent meetings with Putin. Blavatnik and Vekselberg built the second largest aluminum business in Russia and then merged it with UC Rusal, Russia’s largest.
Read more: http://miscellanyblue.com/post/169824749332
Bill would allow first responders to file workers' compensation claims for PTSD
When Marlborough Fire Chief John Manning thinks about trauma, his mind invariably gravitates to July 3, 2007. Suddenly, he is back at Corbett Creek Farm, responding to what he considers the worst call of his career.
A 17-year-old boy was fatally crushed by a falling wall that day, and Manning was one of the first to arrive on the scene. He can still hear the pleas of a woman who was there, begging him to help.
Other times, his mind lands on the painful phone conversation he had that day with the boy’s mom. Travis J. DeSimone was from out of town. His mom had questions.
“Do you know what happened?” he remembers asking her.
She didn’t — Manning had to tell her.
“It’s certainly one of the (incidents) that would stick in my head forever,” he said.
Read more: http://www.sentinelsource.com/news/local/bill-would-allow-first-responders-to-file-workers-compensation-claims/article_c72be70d-02a1-565c-ad45-f28b45063e05.html
The bill being introduced is Senate Bill 553.
Without power: In Franklin, Northern Pass denial comes with a cost
The city of Franklin had its hopes set on Northern Pass.
It was a promising proposal for a community that has been struggling for years – Mayor Tony Giunta described the project as a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity that could pay to refurbish Franklin’s neglected roadways, provide close to 500 local jobs and close the gap in school funding – about $1 million last year.
The power converter station in an abandoned campground was poised to almost double the value of all property in the city – currently about $550 million – in just two years. The new revenue in taxes was expected to be about $5 million to $7 million a year.
Then, unexpectedly, those hopes were dashed.
“I felt like the wind had been knocked out of me,” Giunta said of the moment he found out the state’s Site Evaluation Committee voted against Northern Pass. “I literally lost my breath.”
Read more: http://www.concordmonitor.com/Franklin-city-officials-disappointed-by-SEC-s-Northern-Pass-decision-15284850
Gov. Scott blames Congress for Vermont's inaction on Health Connect
ESSEX JUNCTION - Gov. Phil Scott kicked off his first campaign for governor in 2015 by proclaiming that it was "long past time to pull the plug on Vermont Health Connect."
Last summer, about six months after he took office, Scott said his administration was preparing a plan to move away from the health benefit exchange. He hoped to present the proposal to the Legislature at the start of 2018.
"We're moving forward," Scott told the Burlington Free Press in a July interview. "We're contemplating this other plan that we'll have ready by the time the Legislature starts."
The proposal has not arrived, and progress appears to have stalled. Scott said Thursday that he would not present a plan until Congress decides what to do with the Affordable Care Act.
Read more: http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/story/news/politics/government/2018/02/01/gov-scott-blames-congress-vts-inaction-health-connect/1082665001/
Commuter rail gets support at House panel's hearing on 10-year transportation plan
CONCORD — In many past years under Republican control, the House Public Works and Highways Committee was often the place where commuter rail bills went to die.
The panel would recommend against spending money on the cause and the full House of Representatives would fall in line.
The topic seemed to get a much better reception Wednesday during a public hearing on the state’s 10-year transportation plan.
Gov. Chris Sununu’s about-face decision to support this project looked to improve the odds that it will win approval this year.
Read more: http://www.unionleader.com/state-government/Commuter-rail-gets-support-at-House-panels-hearing-on-10-year-transportation-plan-02012018
Family leave bill set back by committee vote
CONCORD — Supporters of a bill to create a paid family leave insurance plan for New Hampshire workers were disappointed on Wednesday when the House Commerce Committee voted 11-9 along party lines against the idea, with all Republicans on the committee opposed.
The committee vote came less than a month after the full House voted 183-151 in support of the measure.
After the House action, the bill, HB 628, was referred to the Commerce Committee for further consideration, resulting in the negative vote.
The bill now has to go before the Finance Committee and back to the full House.
The plan calls for a 0.5 percent wage contribution from employees, who can choose to opt out of the program by filling out a form and having it notarized. After qualifying, a worker would get 60 percent of average wages for up to 12 weeks, with a minimum benefit of $125 a week.
Read more: http://www.unionleader.com/state-government/Family-leave-bill-set-back-by-committee-vote-02012018
$560M Powerball lottery winner: Keep my ID secret
MERRIMACK - Newly filed court records show a local woman won the $560 million Powerball ticket sold last month in Merrimack but is now trying to keep her identity anonymous - even though she already signed the back of the winning ticket - due to safety and other concerns.
"She has described the signing as 'a huge mistake,'" according to court records filed by her legal counsel at Hillsborough County Superior Court South in Nashua.
The woman, identified in court documents only as Jane Doe, asked that her identity remain a secret even though existing New Hampshire Lottery Commission rules require a winner sign the back of a winning ticket before being able to claim the prize. However, had the ticket been signed in the name of a trust, she could have maintained her privacy.
Her attorney said she deeply values her privacy and announcing her name could lead to safety issues.
"She is a longtime resident of New Hampshire and is an engaged community member," wrote attorney Steven Gordon from the Shaheen and Gordon law firm. "She wishes to continue this work and the freedom to walk into a grocery store or attend public events without being known or targeted as the winner of a half-billion dollars."
Read more: http://www.unionleader.com/Lottery-winner:-Keep-my-ID-secret
Reeds Ferry Market in Merrimack sold the winning $559.7 million Powerball ticket last month. Now the unidentified winner is taking New Hampshire Lottery to court to stay anonymous. (Courtesy)
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