Mountain Times - Volume 48, Number 24: June 12-18, 2019

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6 • STATE NEWS The Mountain Times • June 12-18, 2019 Scott vetoes handgun waiting period; signs abortion protections By Colin Meyn and Alan J. Keays, VTDigger Gov. Phil Scott announced Monday evening, June 10, that he has vetoed S.169, gun control legislation that would have required Vermonters to wait 24 hours to buy a handgun. He also signed H.57, a bill that forbids the government from interfering in a woman’s decision to have an abortion at any stage in her pregnancy. The governor had already said he would let the abortion bill pass into law, though it was unclear if it would get his signature or not. Scott had until midnight Monday to decide on the waiting period legislation and midnight Tuesday to decide on the abortion bill. The governor’s statement announcing actions on the bills set off a flurry of statements from groups on both sides of the issues, some offering praise and others accusing him of playing politics with matters of life and death. The initial reactions from Democratic leaders of the House and Senate were split in their focus. Speaker of the House DUMPTHE PUMP DAY Dump the Pump, Save Money, Ride Transit. JUNE 20, 2019 Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, tweeted in support of the governor signing the abortion bill. “This is the first step in ensuring the next generation of VT women have the same access to reproductive and abortion care that VT women have had for the last 46 years,” she wrote. Senate leader Tim Ashe, D/P-Chittenden, released a statement taking the governor to task for his gun control veto and explanation for doing it. However, because Johnson and Ashe declined to schedule a veto session this year, the soonest they can take up the legislation is January. And it doesn’t appear they would have had the 100 votes they needed in the House. “Last year, I called for and signed a package of historic gun safety reforms because I believe they make schools, communities, families and individuals safer, while upholding Vermonters’ 14th Annual FREE RIDES ON ALL ROUTES! LIVE GREEN, RIDE THE BUS constitutional rights,” Scott said in an emailed statement. He listed the accomplishments of “THIS BILL WOULD HAVE SAVED OUR SON, IT COULD HAVE SAVED YOURS,” THE BLACKS WROTE. those reforms: universal background checks, extreme risk protection orders, the ability of police to seize firearms from domestic violence situations and an increase in the minimum age to purchase guns from 18 to 21. “With these measures in place, we must now prioritize strategies that address the underlying causes of violence and suicide. I do not believe S.169 addresses these areas,” the governor wrote. “Moving forward,” Scott wrote on Monday, “I ask the Legislature to work with me to strengthen our mental health system, reduce adverse childhood experiences, combat addiction and provide every Vermonter with hope and economic opportunity.” Ashe said the governor’s spending plans have not reflected his professed desire to prioritize mental health or addiction issues. “The Governor’s veto letter suggests we need to look to long-term strategies to rebuild our mental health system, or MOVE YOUR LOAN FOR CASH BACK Receive 1% cash back when you refinance your loan or credit card * ! Offer does not apply to real estate, business or existing HFCU loans. to address childhood poverty, or to tackle our addiction crisis,” he wrote. “These strategies have scarcely registered in the Governor’s proposed budgets each year, and in any event will do little to nothing to prevent gun deaths in 2019 or 2020.” The veto is Scott’s first of the session, after he matched the all-time record with 11 vetoes last year. He refused to say in recent months whether he intended to let the waiting period pass into law, but said he was unsure if it would really help address suicide in Vermont. On the campaign trail in 2016, Scott pledged not to support any new gun control laws. His flip once in office infuriated gun rights groups, who pledged to get him out of office. But that didn’t happen, and a drop in his approval rating among Republicans did not do significant damage during elections, when he easily won the primary and general election on his way to a second term. Sen. Dick Sears, D-Bennington and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he was disappointed by the governor’s veto. It was in that Senate committee earlier this year that a more expansive waiting period bill, S.22, that called for a 48-hour delay for all firearms sales was pared down to 24 hours only applying to handguns. Veto, page 33 cash for summer! 802-773-3244 x117 TDD Relay: 711 www.thebus.com Your Community...Your Credit Union 1.888.252.8932 | www.hfcuvt.com * Offer does not apply to business or real estate loans. No additional discounts available. Certain restrictions apply. To qualify, a borrower must meet underwriting requirements. All loans are subject to approval. This offer excludes HFCU loans. Rates subject to change without notice. Federally insured by NCUA.
The Mountain Times • June 12-18, 2019 STATE NEWS • 7 Ski season: GMP requests rate increase Season recap continued from page 1 “There was way more coverage than we normally have for our last day,” said Courtney Fiore, communications manager for Killington and Pico resorts. “You didn’t have to take off your skis or boards to get on or off the lift.” Skiing’s a critical piece of Vermont’s tourism economy. Tourism generates more than $1 billion in wages and $391 million in taxes per year, according to the Scott administration – the largest sector of the economy after manufacturing. Vermont resorts report that about 80 percent of their ticket buyers are visiting from out of state. Southern Vermont areas such as Stratton and Mount Snow tend to draw heavily from Boston, New York, and Connecticut; Jay Peak near the northern border sees a lot of skiers from Quebec. The winter started off with a record-breaking snowfall of nearly 33 inches in November, according to meteorologist Roger Hill. The next highest snowfall total for November was back in 1900, with 24 inches. The average snowfall in November is 6 inches. Temperatures in November were also 5 degrees cooler than normal. The early season wintry conditions got people in the mood for skiing, said Win Smith, who owns Sugarbush. “It set the tone for the season,” Smith said Monday. “Cold, early snowmaking temperatures and no major thaw also made for good conditions throughout the season.” Nature cooperated further by dumping more than 2 feet during the Martin Luther King Day weekend, and 14 inches in time for Presidents Day week. “A combination of this snowfall, ever-efficient snowmaking and no significant periods of warm weather resulted in very consistent coverage and a higher percentage of terrain open across the state throughout the season,” the Vermont Ski Areas Association said in a statement. Green Mountain Power filed a request with the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to increase rates each year for the next three years by 2.92 percent starting Oct.1, 2019. This is part of the company’s new multiyear regulation plan. The plan, approved by regulators last month after a yearlong public process, gives GMP customers predictable, smoother rates that nearly match inflation and are comparable in Vermont and among the lowest in New England. “We are committed to providing clean, cost-effective, reliable power to all of our customers in this time of energy transformation and innovation needed to address climate change,” said GMP President and CEO Mary Powell. “Our team is working tirelessly to hold rates low for customers, as we also continue to offer the latest in innovations such as battery storage that help to drive down costs and provide benefits to all customers.” Many of these innovations, already being put to use for our customers, are responsible for GMP achieving a multiyear rate path that helps maintain such low and stable rates. The request, subject to PUC review and approval, follows GMP’s recently approved multi-year regulation plan, which is a framework designed to provide stability for customers around energy costs for the next three years. Here’s how it works: the PUC essentially requires GMP to forecast then lock in most of its own operational and capital costs and provides for rate variation or change based upon power supply, storms and some other individual cost categories specifically approved by the Commission. In the second and third year, GMP will go back before regulators to adjust rates if needed based on these specific variable items while maintaining the discipline to operate within many locked costs. GMP will also report results over dozens of innovation and operations metrics to ensure it maintains high performance for customers. The plan also supports GMP’s ability to leverage innovation to lower costs and carbon emissions for all customers. “We’ve been thrilling families yearround for decades with both skiing and riding and summer adventures at Bromley, and having steady predictability in our energy costs will allow us to better plan how to invest in our company over the next several years,” said Bill Cairns, general manager of Bromley Mountain Resort, which wins accolades for its family vacations. “GMP has been a great partner and understands our business needs. We appreciate their efforts to keep costs down for customers because energy costs are a big factor for a company like ours.” GMP, page 39 State to receive $1.75 million from Dollar General for deceptive pricing Attorney General T.J. Donovan announced today that his office has reached a $1.75 million settlement with DG Retail, LLC, also known as Dollar General, for violations of Vermont’s Consumer Protection Act. Under the settlement, Dollar General resolved claims that it rang up products at a higher price than advertised on the shelf, even after being told at least 50 times by state inspectors from the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets to correct the pricing inaccuracies. The Vermont Foodbank will receive $100,000 pursuant to the settlement. “Deceptive advertising will not be tolerated,” Attorney General Donovan said. “Knowing that Dollar General caters to low-income Vermonters makes their repeatedly misrepresenting prices particularly egregious. I’m pleased that part of this settlement will directly benefit those Vermonters who struggle with food insecurity.” Dollar General operates 36 retail stores across all 14 counties in Vermont. Dollar General stores sell a wide variety of groceries and household products. Pursuant to Vermont’s weights and measures laws, inspectors from the Agency of Agriculture routinely visit Dollar General stores to ensure that the shelf prices match the prices charged at the register. At any given inspection, inspectors randomly check the shelf prices of 50-100 products and compare them to the register prices. If the price charged at the register exceeds the shelf price, it is known as an “overcharge error.” Since October 2013, inspectors have found 362 overcharge errors at 22 different Dollar General stores. Of the 362 overcharge errors, the price charged at the register exceeded the shelf price by an amount ranging from $.02 to $6 per item, with a median overcharge amount of $.35. “Consumer protection is part of our mission at the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets,” said Secretary of Agriculture Anson Tebbetts. “When someone shops at a store they should be assured they are getting what they paid for. The Agency’s scanner inspection program provides integrity at the check-out line.” Under the terms of the settlement, in addition to the $1.75 million payment, Dollar General is required to implement a pricing accuracy policy to ensure that Vermonters are charged the price reflected on a product. Dollar General will also conduct pricing audits to ensure that their products are priced accurately. Since 2013, Dollar General has paid at least $241,700 in penalties to the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets.
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Mountain Times - Volume 48, Number 24: June 12-18, 2019

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