The Montpelier Happy Hour

April 19, 2024 (prerecorded 4/16): A study bill on regional governance, clarifying tax sales, and municipal ethics are a few of the bills being considered by the Legislature this session. Josh Hanford, director of intergovernmental relations, and Ted Brady, executive director of Vermont League of Cities and Towns (VLCT) provide a municipal perspective. To learn more about VLCT: https://www.vlct.or...

April 12, 2024: Rep. Tristan Toleno serves on the House Committee on Appropriations and the State Workforce Development Board. It's one of the reasons he read the entire State of Vermont Workforce Report. As he characterizes it, the state has a hiring AND retention problem. Tristan walks us through some of the issues he's seeing and the pressures its putting of the state budget. Theme music by Red...

April 5, 2024: The State Auditor's office has released its assessment of Vermont's role in the Jay Peak, Burke Mountain, and AnCBio EB-5 fraud. Auditor Doug Hoffer joins the show to share his office's findings. We discuss how to prevent a similar situation as the EB-5 fraud happening again. To read The Auditor's Report: https://auditor.vermont.gov/sites/auditor/files/documents/EB-5%20Final%20Repor...

March 29, 2024: John Walters of The Vermont Political Observer updates us on the state of the General Assistance housing program. Or, as John describes it: "We have a housing crisis at all price points. We have a humanitarian crisis at the lower-income end." We also discuss potential legislation to support CUDs and Governor Phil Scott's latest pick for Secretary of Education. To read John's work:...

March 22, 2024: Okay, so the Public Assets Institute doesn't really give a thumbs up or down in it's annual State of Working Vermont report. Vermont's economy is a mix of both. PAI Executive Director Stephanie Yu walks us through this year's report. We discuss the labor market, wages, taxes, and income inequality. Read the report here: https://publicassets.org/library/publications/reports/state-of...

March 15, 2024: Investigative Journalist Leah McGrath Goodman walks listeners through defining corruption or the abuse of the public trust for private gain. She also shares local examples of fraud - World Learning/SIT, Democracy Builders, the EB5 scandal - and their potential impacts on the community. To follow Leah's work: https://leahmcgrathgoodman.com/ Or, to read Leah's Column C on Substack: h...

March 8, 2024: Meg Mott, Putney town moderator and proponent of a "good clash," shares her thoughts on this year's Annual Town Meeting. What civic muscles are we missing that can help us build a better town meeting and stronger communities? The book Meg mentioned: All those in Favor: Rediscovering the Secrets of Town Meeting and Community, by Susan Clark and Frank Bryan. Find it here: https://vtin...

March 1, 2024: Rep. Emilie Kornheiser makes a guest appearance! She breaks down the causes behind the reported increases in school taxes. Some increases are because of school districts' spending, but not all of them.  The December episode on School Spending referenced: https://themontpelierhappyhour.captivate.fm/episode/understanding-vermonts-potential-18-5-education-tax-increase-hint-it-migh...

February 23, 2024: John Walters of The Vermont Political Observer stops by the show to discuss his work covering housing issues. But, since Vermont's housing crisis is not happening in a vacuum, we talked about so much more.  To read H.850: https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2024/H.850 Governor Scott's press release on H.850: https://governor.vermont.gov/press-release/action-taken-go...

February 16, 2024 (prerecorded 2/12): Calling all democracy nerds! Vermont's Secretary of State, Sarah Copeland Hanzas, chats elections, getting ready for the primary, and programs to build civic skills in Vermont schools.  Theme music by Red Heart the Ticker

February 9, 2024 (prerecorded 2/5): The Women's Freedom Center turns 50 this year. The local domestic and sexual violence organization serves Windham and Southern Windsor Counties. Advocate Shari joins today's show to share how the organization has evolved in its efforts to support survivors and end violence.  To learn more about the Women's Freedom Center's work: https://womensfreedomcenter....

February 2, 2024 (Originally recorded on 10/28/22): It's a running joke on this show that whenever we discuss rural internet challenges, our internet blinks out. We like to think it's because we're special, but the only specialness going on is with the Community Union Districts (CUDs) and their efforts to bring high-speed internet to their member towns. Today, Christine Hallquist, executive direct...

January 26, 2024 (prerecorded 1/22): Rep. Seth Bongartz joins this week's show to continue the housing conversation. Bongartz has worked on a number of housing-related bills and will share his insight on what's working (or not). Theme music by Red Heart the Ticker:  http://rhtt.net

January 19, 2024 (prerecorded 1/15): Last week, the State House of Representatives passed H.27. The bill adds coercive controlling behavior to the definition of abuse for the purposes of obtaining a relief from abuse order. Selene Colburn, co-director of Vermont's Council on Domestic Violence and member of the Vermont Network joins today's discussion. To read H.27: https://legislature.vermont.gov/...

January 12, 2024 (prerecorded 1/8): Vermont Public Journalist Peter Hirschfeld shares his experience as a State House reporter. One of the topics we'll discuss is: How does a reporter decide which issues to cover?

January 5, 2024: Regular Contributor Rep. Emilie Kornheiser joins the show from Montpelier. She shares her experience of the first week of the session. Transcript of Gov. Phil Scott's 2024 State of the State address: https://governor.vermont.gov/state-state-2024 Our reading of Gov. John E. Week's 1929 State of the State address: https://themontpelierhappyhour.captivate.fm/episode/our-political-anc...

December 29, 2023 (prerecorded 12/22): Vermont Speaker of the House, Rep. Jill Krowinski joins the show to help us say see ya to 2023. Krowinski helps outline the House's priorities for the upcoming legislative session. Previous episodes referenced in this show: Seeking the (many) single solution to housing: https://themontpelierhappyhour.captivate.fm/episode/seeking-the-many-single-solution-to-ho...

December 22, 2023 (prerecorded 12/19): The Fund Vermont's Futute Coalition is advocating a proposal to raise $98 million in new tax revenue. The money could fund new infrastructure, schools, and be used to meet more Vermonters' economic needs. If passed, the proposal would levy a 3 percent personal income surcharge on annual incomes of $500,000 or more. Anika Heilweil, the Fair Share Campaign Mana...

December 15, 2023 (prerecorded 12/12): Vermont Health Care Advocate Mike Fisher discusses the cost of health care. What options do we have to lower costs? This conversation builds off of last week's discussion about education taxes. The Vermont Office of the Health Care Advocate: https://vtlawhelp.org/health Bills* H.118 and S.61 which Mike Fisher discussed: https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/st...

December 8, 2023: Every year, the state Tax Commissioner releases a document outlining education taxes. The letter serves as a "pulse taking" to help school districts understand where taxes sit going into the budget-building season. This year's letter highlighted a potential 18.5 percent increase. On this show, we try to help Vermonters recover from their collective sticker shock by breaking down...

December 1, 2023 (prerecorded 11/29): James Pepper from the Cannabis Control Board joins today's show to talk about developments in the state's market.  Follow the Cannabis Control Board's work: http://ccb.vermont.gov/ Theme music by Red Heart the Ticker: http://rhtt.net

November 24, 2023 (prerecorded 11/20): This is the Montpelier Happy Hour's 250th episode! Thank you to all the listeners and guests who made reaching 250 thoughtful and fun. Maura Collins of the VHFA joins today's celebration.  Theme music by Red Heart the Ticker: http://rhtt.net

November 17, 2023 (prerecorded 11/14): Rep. Katherine Sims discusses H.105, which would establish a grant to fund community mitigation and resilience projects. Ideally, these projects would reduce damage from future events such as flooding.  Read H.105: https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2024/H.105 Theme music by Red Heart the Ticker: http://rhtt.net

November 10, 2023: Communities across Vermont are witnessing more people struggling with opioid misuse. While the cry goes out to "do something!" it also seems that programs that could reduce harm are being overlooked. David Mickenberg with the Drug Policy Alliance and Brattleboro Selectboard Member Daniel Quipp join today's discussion.  To learn more about the Drug Policy Alliance visit: htt...

November 3, 2023: Substance misuse, gun violence, and poverty are issues that communities across the state are trying to solve. Recently, however, the impacts of people's struggles have become more visible in communities that previously - perhaps - seemed immune. So what does this mean for Vermont communities? And what stories have we been telling ourselves? More housing data available throug...