Economy & Business

All of Us Journey Community Event 05/10/2024

Meghan O'Rourke, CCTV, interviews Tom Bever, Senior Program Manager at the All of Us Research Program. The All Of Us Research Program is a National Institutes of Health Initiative, with the goal to diversify health research and help create a future where health care is tailored to individuals.

The traveling exhibit, the All Of Us Journey, will be at the Fletcher Free Library from June 4-7, 10:00am to 4:00pm daily.

Learn more at: www.joinallofus.org/learn-more

Moments with Melinda: Interview with Hayley Jones 05/07/2024

From Melinda Moulton:

Hayley Jones is the Vermont and New Hampshire Director at Slingshot. She is a community organizer, interpreter, and queer poet based out of Burlington, Vermont. As a founding member of Slingshot, she works side by side with frontline communities to tackle environmental injustices and build the world we want to see.

For more information visit: http://www.slingshot.org/

Senator Peter Welch: Protect Our Care Report 05/07/2024

From the Office of Senator Welch:

On Tuesday, May 7, 2024 at 1:00 PM ET, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and U.S. Representative Debbie Dingell (D-MI-06) will join Leslie Dach from Protect Our Care for a press conference to discuss how big pharmaceutical companies are putting profits over patients. During the call, Protect Our Care will release a new report summarizing big drug companies’ recent investor reports, demonstrating how they are raking in profit and rewarding shareholders while more than 1 in 3 Americans are cutting pills or skipping doses because they can’t afford their medication.

This call comes at a time where pharmaceutical giants are laser-focused on undermining the Inflation Reduction Act by filing lawsuits and increasing their lobbying to protect their profits. Drug companies have been working behind the scenes with Republican lawmakers to repeal all of the Inflation Reduction Act’s provisions aimed at making prescription drugs more affordable for seniors. Big drug companies claim that the new law to make drugs more affordable will harm patients, but in reality, they’re telling investors the opposite and spending billions on rewarding their investors through stock buybacks and dividends, paying their executives millions, and spending millions lobbying to keep their prices high.

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont House Committee on Appropriations - Discussion of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law 05/03/2024

Discussion of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law at the House Committee on Appropriations.

Later on Friday, the House Appropriations committee met to have a walkthrough of the bill. The committee asked questions about the mechanics of the bill and how it would practically be applied to situations like school boards and Town Meeting day. Ultimately, the committee voted the bill out favorably 10-0-2.

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont House Committee on Government Operations - Testimony of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law 05/03/2024

Testimony of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law at the House Committee on Government Operations.

On Friday morning, the House Government Operations committee did a walkthrough of Draft 4.1, the most recent version of the bill. The committee voted to move the bill out of committee favorably 9-2-1. A link to the most recent version of the bill and committee meeting are below. Chair McCarthy pointed out there were some concerns brought forward about the retention of records following meetings - the bill as voted out of committee is silent on this topic, cities and towns want clarity about how long they must keep records.

S.55: Draft 4.1:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Government%20Operations/Bills/S.55/Drafts,%20Amendments,%20and%20Legal%20Documents/S.55~Tim%20Devlin~%20Draft%204.1,%205-2-2024~5-3-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont Senate Committee on Appropriations - Walkthrough of H.657 Modernize Vermont’s Communications Taxes and Fees 05/02/2024

Walkthrough of H.657 a bill meant to modernize Vermont's communications taxes and fees at the Senate Committee on Appropriations.

On Thursday, the Senate Appropriations committee met to have a walkthrough of the bill from Senator Chittenden. Senator Chittenden brought up the first "chunk" of the bill, about changing a monthly tax on phone lines from a percentage - said this was uncontroversial. This got several questions from Senator Sears, who was concerned about the implications to low-income people - Senator Chittenden explained further how the tax functioned. The committee had to adjourn for the budget conference committee, so Chair Kitchel said up front that they would not be voting today.

H.657: As Passed By the House:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/Senate%20Appropriations/Bills/H.657/Drafts,%20Amendments,%20and%20Legal%20Documents/H.657~Maria%20Royle~As%20Passed%20By%20the%20House~5-2-2024.pdf

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont House Committee on Government Operations - Testimony of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law 05/02/2024

Testimony of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law at the House Committee on Government Operations.

On Thursday, the House Government Operations committee met to discuss a new draft of the bill. Legislative counsel walked the committee through Draft 2.2 - the new draft of the bill still includes VAN in the Working Group member list. The committee discussed exemptions to the in-person meeting requirement for certain bodies proposed by S.55. On THURSDAY afternoon, the committee reconvened and a walkthrough of Draft 2.3 (which is almost the same at 2.2) - the most recent changes include redefining “undue hardship”, redefining “state nonadvisory public bodies”, allowing CUDs to not have a physical meeting local until 2025, among other technical changes.

S.55, Draft 2.3:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Government%20Operations/Bills/S.55/Drafts,%20Amendments,%20and%20Legal%20Documents/S.55~Tim%20Devlin~%20Draft%202.3,%205-2-2024~5-2-2024.pdf

Nadando Contra la Corriente con Justicia Migrante: Milk With Dignity - All Day Picket and Rally Outside Hannaford 05/01/2024

From Migrant Justice:

For years, farmworkers have called on Hannaford customers to engage with the company and make their demands heard – and thousands have responded, sending emails, making calls, writing postcards, speaking with store managers and more. But Hannaford has refused to listen. This is why on May 1st we are taking the new step of telling customers: Don’t cross the picket line; don’t shop at Hannaford!

From the store’s opening at 7am to its closing at 11pm, workers and allies will maintain a picket, educating potential customers about the human rights abuses on Hananford’s farms and urging them to shop elsewhere.

Join us on the picket line for a few hours – or the full day! – on May 1st at the Hannaford Supermarkets in Williston. At 5:30pm, we will gather outside the store for a large rally.

For more information about Migrant Justice visit: www.migrantjustice.net/news/mayday-boycott

Don MacDonald Talks: Local History and Transportation 05/01/2024

Bobby Lussier, CCTV's Development Director, interviews community producer Don MacDonald about local history and transportation.

Community Media Public Benefit Bill: H.575 and S.181: Vermont House Republican Caucus - Discussion of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law 04/30/2024

Discussion of S.55 Update to Open Meeting Law at the House Republican Caucus.

On Tuesday, Representative Higley presented an update on the bill to the House Republican Caucus. Representative Higley said the committee was considering an amendment to allow CUDs not to comply with open meeting law requirements due to their vast geographic jurisdiction

S.55: Draft 1.3, 4-11-2024:
https://legislature.vermont.gov/Documents/2024/WorkGroups/House%20Government%20Operations/Bills/S.55/Drafts,%20Amendments,%20and%20Legal%20Documents/S.55~Tim%20Devlin~%20Draft%201.3,%204-11-2024~5-1-2024.pdf

Featured Story

CCTV Receives NEH Grant to Support Community Archives

CCTV Center for Media & Democracy is pleased to announce receipt of a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Humanities Collections and Reference Resources grant alongside 32 peer archival institutions across the country. This $49,927 grant award will support efforts to preserve and expand access to audio/visual community history materials in the CCTV Archives. Read more about this opportunity here!