Tag Archives: Olga Peters

It’s Gettin’ Late Early Out There

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While I was preparing (an overly grandiose term for my process, TBH) for the latest edition of the “Montpelier Happy Hour” podcast with Your Host Olga Peters*, something struck me that shouldn’t have been a surprise at all. Well, two things:

*Audio version available here.

  1. In a normal year, the Legislature would be steaming full-speed toward adjournment or would have already adjourned, but we seem to be nowhere near a conclusion.
  2. The filing deadline for major-party candidates in the August primary and November election is less than a month away.

If there was ever a year that could put a stake in the heart of Vermont’s beloved but fictional separation between legislating season and political season, well, 2026 is it. Last year, thanks mainly to Gov. Phil Scott’s bullheaded insistence on Act 73, the Legislature didn’t adjourn until mid-June. We seem to be headed toward a repeat performance this year, given the facts that (1) the House just passed H.931, its version of the Act 73 sequel, (2) the Senate has barely begun its process, (3) the Senate is likely to tear up the House bill and rewrite it from scratch, (4) the governor has already promised to veto the House version if it did somehow get through the Senate, and (5) ain’t nobody seems to have the slightest idea what kind of bill could survive the process while maybe not entirely triggering a revolt among the voting public.

Oh, and the governor is also threatening to lock the doors from the outside if he doesn’t get an amended version of Act 181 that’s to his liking. Also the budget, a not uncommon bone of contention between the branches. And he’s likely to veto another bill or six, just for shits and giggles.

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Overdue News You Should View

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This feature, which was once published with plausible reliability once a week, continues to break its own schedule with distressing regularity. No excuses, not even a promise to get back to weekly status, I’ll just press forward and do the best I can.

Not to say there’s been a shortage of quality content worth your attention. Our local outlets (and a pair of podcasts) are still hard at work — despite the bad news about the Brandon Reporter and a setback for the Hinesburg Record, which merits a post of its own. Meanwhile, let’s get to the top-shelf offerings, shall we?

If you’re homeless, do you really deserve to own stuff? The usually big-hearted town of Brattleboro has been removing encampments of the unhoused on the ever-popular principle of “If you can’t see poverty, it doesn’t exist.” And in the process, as The Commons’ C.B. Hall reports, there are signs of a cavalier attitude toward the belongings of The Removed. Larry Barrows, survivor of three strokes, lost everything he had via official town action, including prescription medications and “My kid’s Bible, my kid’s photos. It’s devastating.”

Town Health Officer Charles Keir III, depicted in this story as a real piece of work, insisted that during the removals, “I don’t remember seeing any personal belongings that we deemed as salvageable.” He must have an interesting definition of “personal belongings” because he acknowledged that tents are not considered personal property. “We destroy them,” he told Hall. “They go to the landfill.” Well, isn’t that special.

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They Said It Couldn’t Be Done. Seriously. Over and Over. Guess It Was All Bullshit. (Updated)

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I don’t know exactly what changed their minds, but after months of insisting the motel voucher program was going to end on schedule come Hell or high water, leaders of the House and Senate are working on a deal to extend the program.

My reactions are all over the place. Wow. Finally. Thank goodness. What took you so long?

And… let’s not get carried away until we see the fine print.

Here’s what we know, courtesy of VTDigger’s Lola Duffort. The extension would apply to roughly 2,000 people scheduled to be unhoused in July. It’s an indefinite stay, meant to allow people to stay in motels until state officials can identify “alternate stable setting[s].” There will be a mandate for the Scott administration to regularly update lawmakers, which is embarrassing for Team Scott but utterly necessary due to its complete failure to plan any sort of transition before now.

And it will not apply to anyone unhoused on June 1. So, not only are those people SOL, it also means there will be another mass eviction on Thursday Friday. You may recall that hundreds of June 1 evictees were offered free two-week extensions by some motel owners. Those extensions expire tomorrow Friday. No reprieves on offer for those folks.

I don’t know why leadership is so firm on excluding the June 1 and June 16 unhoused, who number approximately 800. I guess that’s an acceptable level of human suffering.

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