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A bill intended to address years of inequitable funding in Vermontâs K-12 public schools has passed the House of Representatives.
The bill, S. 13, establishes a task force to study how to implement new per-pupil weighting factors into the stateâs education funding formula. The bill passed unanimously on second reading, 127-0, and the House suspended its rules to send it to the Senate for concurrence right away.
Since the Brigham court decision in the 1990s threw out Vermontâs education funding system as unconstitutional, the state has used weighting factors as part of a formula intended to provide equitable opportunity to students regardless of geography.
Vermont Legislature, governor have different ideas on budget
May 14, 2021
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MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) Lawmakers in the Democrat-controlled Vermont Legislature and Republican Gov. Phil Scott have different visions of how the state should spend about $1 billion from the American Rescue Plan.
It’s unclear how those differences will play out as the Legislature wraps up its work and prepares to adjourn for the year, possibly next week, but it s possible Scott could veto the budget.
The governor wants to spend the federal money on housing, economic recovery initiatives, water and sewer, universal broadband, and climate change initiatives.
He says the state has to begin using that money now.
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MONTPELIER â The Vermont Senate joined the House in passing a resolution apologizing for its role in the eugenics movement, in which so-called âdelinquentsâ and âdefectivesâ were institutionalized or sterilized. The policies targeted French Canadians, French-speaking indigenous Canadians, indigenous peoples and people of color, and disproportionately affected women.
The Senate, rather than concur with the House version of the resolution, replaced it with a âstrike-allâ amendment and its own wording â varying slightly from the House text, but hitting all the same salient points.
Like the House version, which passed 146-0 on March 31, the Senate resolution, reported by Sen. Brian Collamore, R-Rutland, sums up the history of the eugenics movement, and the Legislatureâs active role in promoting it in the early 20th century, up to and including the passage of a sterilization law in 1931.
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MONTPELIERÂ â Sen. Randy Brock was answering a question Tuesday morning about the Senate s version of H. 360, a bill setting the framework for building out universal high-speed broadband across Vermont, when his Zoom feed suddenly gave out and he disappeared from the Senate s virtual ranks. We have a broadband issue right here, right now, Lt. Gov. Molly Gray, the ex-officio Senate President, said.Â
Brock, R-Franklin, returned in plenty of time for the Senate to unanimously pass the bill, which proposes spending millions in federal aid to assure universal access to high-speed broadband for education, health, business and telecommuting. A formal third reading vote is set for Wednesday. Â
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Iâm back from a week as guest news editor of the Bennington Banner, and while Iâve been busy, the Legislature has been busier.
This weekâs to-do list for lawmakers is significant for the important issues theyâll be taking up this week, as well as their goal of adjourning by May 22.
Tuesday, the House Ways & Means Committee is expected to move along S. 13, the per-pupil weighting implementation study, with any changes it may have proposed to what the House Education Committee passed. Hereâs a quick link to testimony in front of the committee last week.