Voices for Vermont’s Children’s annual conference Just Systems and Thriving Communities, for Every Child and Youth is this Wednesday, November 6, at the Capitol Plaza in Montpelier. The conference will focus on economic security, child protection, and health and education. Voices is a longtime partner of Public Assets Institute, particularly in the area of ensuring equitable educational outcomes for all Vermont’s kids. Read more

The Vermont Tax Structure Commission was formed in 2018 to analyze Vermont’s tax system and make suggestions for improvements. As part of that work, the Commission has been looking at Vermont’s school funding system and invited Public Assets to testify recently about moving to income-based school taxes for Vermont residents.

That testimony and related attachments are posted here.

The Commission has released several white papers and other information and is expected to complete their final report in January 2021. The public is welcome to attend their meeting and provide feedback on Vermont’s tax structure. The next one is scheduled for Wednesday, November 6th. Public input into revenue and spending policies can also be submitted to the administration online.

The Pew Research Center estimates that there are several thousand undocumented immigrants in Vermont. These workers pay roughly $3 million in taxes annually and support a number of state industries, especially agriculture.  And their contributions aren’t just economic: immigrants writ large are an integral part of our families, schools and communities. Read more

There has been a certain amount of hand-wringing for the last decade or so about how many rich people and young people are moving in and out of Vermont. Migration data compiled by the Internal Revenue Service are at the heart of the debate, which invariably focuses on the people leaving. Why don’t we pay more attention to the new arrivals, including the thousands of international immigrants who have settled in Vermont but aren’t counted by the IRS? They could tell us something about how to improve life for all Vermonters.

The Vermont Community Foundation and the organizing committee for the Con Hogan Award for Creative, Entrepreneurial Community Leadership announced today that Jan Demers will be honored with this year’s award. Demers is the Executive Director of Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO), serving Addison, Chittenden, Franklin, and Grand Isle counties.

The $15,000 award, to be used however the recipient chooses, will be presented at a public reception on Wednesday, October 2 from 4:30 to 6:30 PM at the Vermont College of Fine Arts in Montpelier.

Established by a group of Con’s colleagues in 2015, the annual award recognizes his life work by rewarding each year a community leader who shares his vision of a better Vermont and who seizes the responsibility for making that vision a reality. The award is given to a leader who shows deep community involvement, generosity, enthusiasm, a collaborative approach, and a focus on data and measurable outcomes in his or her work.

Vermont dropped a few notches from the previous year, but it still ranked as the 8th best state in 2019 when it comes to pay and legal protections for workers. The ranking was done by Oxfam America in its report: “Best and Worst States to Work in America.”

In 2018, the first year Oxfam published its Best States to Work Index (BSWI), Vermont was ranked 5th. However, Vermont and Maine switched places on the index this year, in large part because Maine now has a higher minimum wage ($11.00 an hour) than Vermont ($10.78).

The Oxfam report looks at three areas that affect the well-being of workers: ...

Monday is the 125th Labor Day, a national holiday to celebrate the contributions of workers to our community. Arguably few contribute more to growth and development across the country than early childhood workers, primarily women.

Early childhood professionals are in positions to shape the values we want for our children and community: how to share and take turns, how to be safe with one another, and how to be kind. They can support parents through the complexities of raising a child and educate them on how to navigate children’s developmental changes. And we want them to keep our children safe and healthy.

There may be a silver lining to the Legislature’s failure last session to reach agreement on raising Vermont’s minimum wage to $15 an hour. New research published in recent months highlights the benefits of a higher minimum wage, questions the putative negative effects, and strengthens the case for Vermont to act sooner rather than later.

A recent story in the Washington Post summarized much of the new research. It cites a new study in the Quarterly Journal of Economics that challenges the conventional wisdom that going to $15 an hour will hurt the people it is designed to help by destroying low-wage jobs. That study was complemented by researchers at Berkeley, who looked at low-wage areas within states and also found no adverse effects on employment.

For all the fun of summer vacation—creemees, camping, swimming, and sun—it brings a host of challenges for Vermont families. With the end of the school year, working parents scramble to find and pay for childcare. And for families with children who aren’t yet school-age, it’s a year-round struggle.

But an increase in the Child Care Financial Assistance Program (CCFAP) funding this summer will alleviate some of this financial stress. On July 21st the state will boost child care subsidies, providing more financial assistance for low-income families.

This increase is long overdue. From 2010 to 2017, the average cost of care grew 35 percent for pre-school age children, while state reimbursement rates grew just 3 percent and have not changed since 2014.

Connecticut was able to do what Vermont couldn’t this past legislative session: raise the minimum wage to $15 and create a paid family and medical leave insurance program. Our New England neighbor could provide some guidance for the Vermont Legislature when it reconvenes in January.

Connecticut’s current minimum wage of $10.10 will be raised to $15 an hour by 2023, a full year sooner than any of the legislation Vermont has been considering.

Their paid family and medical leave bill allows employees to take up to 12 weeks of paid leave annually, covering 95 percent of wages for people earning minimum wage.