April 17, 2016 For Immediate Release: Last week the Vermont House passed a bill which will raise additional funding to expand internet to approximately 30,000 unserved and underserved Vermonters. H.870 will increase the universal service fee on phone bills by half a percent, raising roughly $1.6 million per year. The language was approved in the …
Category: Economic Development
Final weeks of the session coming up
Act 46 and School Choice updates: Last week I participated in a regional panel discussion on Act 46 sponsored by Marlboro Colleges Center for Creative Solutions alongside Brad James from the Agency of Education, Superintendents Ron Stahley and Dan French, Wilmington student Peyton Eisler and Whitingham student Kassidy Walkowiak. It is inspiring to have students …
Marijuana hearing and connectivity update
Dear friends and neighbors, We are more then halfway throughway the session and have begun to send House bills to the Senate for consideration of passage this year and vice versa. This past week the House passed the first version of both the budget and tax bills. The bills now go to the Senate who …
21st century workforce and contemplating a Plan B for rural connectivity
The House Commerce and Economic Development Committee, which I serve on has worked very hard to vote out a bill, UNANIMOUSLY, that clarifies the laws governing employers, employees, and independent contractors with regard to worker's compensation and unemployment insurance. For years, the legislature has attempted to address this issue to ensure the many protections for workers …
Continue reading 21st century workforce and contemplating a Plan B for rural connectivity
Town Meeting Report 2016
Town Meeting Legislative Update March 1, 2016 Dear Friends and Neighbors: It's an honor to represent you in our State Legislature and to communicate the activities of the General Assembly to you in this Town Meeting update. I have been busy since the beginning of the session working in my committee and with constituents on …
Budgets, twister and turnips
We are three weeks in to the session, and a number of items are seeing some legislative action. GILFEATHER TURNIP Of local importance, this week Wardsboro's native Gilfeather Turnip made a significant step towards being named the Vermont State Vegetable after passing the House. Congratulations to the Wardsboro students who have testified in support …
Southern Vermont Zone report released
One of the pieces of legislation I was particularly proud of working on last year was the creation of the Southern Vermont Economic Development Zone and the Southern Vermont Zone Committee. Over the course of much of the session, Rep. Oliver Olsen of Londonderry, Rep. Kiah Morris of Bennington, Senator Becca Balint and I worked …
2015 Session Wrap Up
At 11:15 pm on Saturday May 16th, the gavel fell signaling the end of 2015 Legislative Session. Since then I have resumed working full-time at my regular employment job - Director of Economic and Workforce Development for SE Vermont's Windham Region, attended the last school events of the season for my middle schooler, and celebrated …
A bright spot in the session
Later this week, or perhaps next, this years's economic development bill will come to the floor of the House for reporting and a vote. The bill originated in the Senate, and after a rough trek through the Senate Committees of jurisdiction, landed in our House Committee. I'm happy to say that there are a package …
Vermont State Representative Laura Sibilia 