By Kirk Carapezza The Senate Transportation Committee on Friday advanced a bill that would grant driver identification cards to Vermont residents who are in this country illegally. The bill would allow people who can prove identity and residency in Vermont to get a “driving privilege card.” Under the bill, the state would authorize the Department [...]

By Kirk Carapezza The House voted 91-49 on Friday in favor of a state budge that increases  state spending by roughly 5 percent. The approval came after some amendments offered by Republican legislators were withdrawn. Still, as VPR’s Bob Kinzel reports, the bill sets up a major disagreement with Governor Peter Shumlin over the funding [...]

By Kirk Carapezza For the first time this legislative session, the subject of decriminalizing small amounts of marijuana has been before a key Vermont House Committee. The House Judiciary Committee heard testimony this morning on a bill that would replace criminal penalties with a $100 fine for those found carrying less than two ounces of [...]

By Kirk Carapezza The Vermont House takes up a bill that would establish lake shoreland protection standards. Advocates say the bill would preserve the ecosystem and is needed to slow down and filter polluting run-off. They say the bill has been reworked to address property owners’ concerns by saying shorelands of the state owned by [...]

By Kirk Carapezza The Vermont House is preparing to debate the budget and a number of new tax proposals this week, and House leaders are already trying to line up votes for a $1.3 billion plan that includes a contentious bid to cap welfare benefits. Since national welfare reform in the 1990s, Vermont hasn’t limited [...]

By Kirk Carapezza In what is seen as a major victory for wind proponents, the Vermont Senate has amended a bill that would have established a new, more rigid process for siting energy projects. The amendment, which passed 16-14, effectively strips the legislation of its major policy goal: to grant local control over energy development, [...]

By Kirk Carapezza Some lawmakers’ hopes of passing meaningful climate change legislation this session that might reduce greenhouse gas emissions have collided with the state’s fiscal reality. Rep. Margaret Cheney, D-Norwich, sponsored a thermal efficiency bill that originally would have, among other things, earmarked millions of dollars for the weatherization of homes and businesses in [...]