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Education Finance - March 28, 2024
Chairwoman Kornheiser kicked off a joint hearing of the House Education and Ways & Means Committees on Thursday. She explained the format is to have a “free flowing” discussion of ideas without the need for formal legislation proposal; she asserted these ideas are from many around the (virtual) table. “The diversity and scale and complexity of some of the issues that we are facing in education and education finance this year necessitate more open dialogue,” she stated.
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Education Finance - March 26, 2024
Chair Cummings explained on Tuesday afternoon that they are expecting several tax bills from the House but, as of yet, none of them address the big question of “the biggest problem we’ve got which is the massive increase in property taxes, which really is coming close to making Vermont unaffordable to most people.”
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Ben Kinsley published Government Accountability (H.702) - March 26, 2024 in News 2024-03-30 13:06:09 -0400
VOTE: Government Accountability (H.702) - March 26, 2024
Chairman McCarthy opened the House Government Operations Committee meeting on Tuesday morning by saying he was particularly busy visiting with the House Appropriations Committee regarding the grants bill, H.140. He shared with the Committee that he would like to offer an amendment to H.702 to insert the working Group concept from the previous bill into this one.
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Act 250 Overhaul (S.311) - March 27, 2024
Gus Seelig (Executive Director, Vermont Housing and Conservation Board) was first to testify In the Senate Natural Resources on Wednesday Morning on S.311 after Chairman Bray gave some housekeeping remarks. The bill aims to overhaul the Act 250 land use system and install a tiered mapping system that makes it clear which land is available for development and which is not.
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Ben Kinsley published VOTE: Misc. Education Bill (H.874) - March 28, 2024 in News 2024-03-30 12:59:30 -0400
VOTE: Misc. Education Bill (H.874) - March 28, 2024
Chairman Conlon introduced an amendment from the Appropriations on Thursday morning. Representative Mihaly was there to present it and began by explaining some of the technical provisions of the amendment, including the new 60/40 split between the General and Education Funds for adult education.
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PCB Testing (H.873) - March 26, 2024
H.873 reached the House floor on Tuesday, with Representative Conlon of Cornwall speaking on behalf of the Committee on Education. The bill addresses funding challenges for the state’s program for the remediation of the presence of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in schools. This has been a major cost-driver for many districts.
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Ben Kinsley published Cooperative Educational Services (H.630) - March 26, 2024 in News 2024-03-30 12:56:14 -0400
Cooperative Educational Services (H.630) - March 26, 2024
H.630 reached the House floor on Tuesday. Representative Beck of St. Johnsbury offered an amendment on behalf of the Committee on Ways and Means. They recommended passing the bill along with an amendment that appropriated $70k for the Agency of Education to administer a grant program to support the formation of Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES).
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Ben Kinsley published LETTER: This Education Crisis is Nothing New in News 2024-03-26 08:15:59 -0400
LETTER: This Education Crisis is Nothing New
Chair Conlon and members of the House Education Committee,
The education finance crisis before you today is the gravest in decades and eerily similar to the crisis we faced a decade ago. You have difficult choices ahead of you around overhauling the entire education finance system or making targeted reforms to inject more transparency and accountability into the incentive structure.
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Changes to VEGI - March 20, 2024
H.10 was presented in the House of Representatives on Tuesday. Representative Toleno spoke for the Committee on Appropriations, reporting in favor of its passage.
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Ben Kinsley published Amendment to Renewable Energy Standard (H.289) - March 21, 2024 in News 2024-03-24 10:19:19 -0400
Amendment to Renewable Energy Standard (H.289) - March 21, 2024
Representatives Walker and Harrison joined the House Energy and Environment Committee on Thursday to propose an amendment to H.289. The amendment would attempt to target new generation facilities in areas that already have additional distribution capacity. In areas where additional distribution capacity is necessary, the amendment would protect ratepayers from bearing the cost of these upgrades.
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Education Spending - March 21, 2024
The House Education Committee attempted to get a “big picture” of the education financing challenges on Thursday morning. Julia Richter (Senior Fiscal Analyst, Joint Fiscal Office) noted that the material she was presenting would seem familiar because it is meant to be. Chairman Conlon wanted a refresher as they began to review the current situation. Richter stated these are the same slides she presented about a month ago with some updates based on recent data and budgets. Her presentation showed the various commitments of Education Fund dollars and the ways in which school districts receive them.
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VOTE: Tax Changes (H.546) - March 22, 2024
The annual housekeeping bill for the Ways and Means Committee, H.546, reached the House floor on Friday. Chairwoman Kornheiser presented the bill to the House. She described the bill as “revenue neutral.”
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Ben Kinsley published Climate Change Cost Recovery (S.259) - March 21, 2024 in News 2024-03-24 10:14:12 -0400
Climate Change Cost Recovery (S.259) - March 21, 2024
Ben Edgerly Walsh (Climate & Energy Program Director, VPIRG) testified on S.259 in the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday afternoon.
He shared in his presentation that VPIRG supports this bill because the cost of the climate crisis is “staggering”, and Vermonters should not be responsible for “shouldering the burden.” They see this legislation as a medium to long-term strategy. The legal process will take years, as will the rule-making process.
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Ben Kinsley published Changes to Clean Heat Standard (S.305) - March 20, 2024 in News 2024-03-24 10:12:03 -0400
Changes to Clean Heat Standard (S.305) - March 20, 2024
Senator Bray provided an overview of S.305 to the Senate floor on Wednesday afternoon. He described the bill as creating a number of fixes. He reminded Senators that they had passed the Energy Efficiency Modernization Act in 2020, which was a three-year pilot program allowing electrical efficiency utilities to use $2M of efficiency charge money for pilot projects focused on energy reduction. However, the climate crisis is being driven by the thermal sector and transportation so they asked them to see if they could find solutions in these areas.
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Ben Kinsley published Government Accountability (H.702) - March 22, 2024 in News 2024-03-24 10:08:57 -0400
Government Accountability (H.702) - March 22, 2024
Representative Boyden presented H.702 on the House floor on Friday. She told members of the House that, as policy makers, they need to routinely evaluate how well our system is working and ensure that Vermonters are receiving the results they expect and deserve. H.702 is the first step in strengthening this type of government accountability.
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Future of VEGI - March 19, 2024
Chairman Marcotte presented Jessica Hartleben (Executive Director, Vermont Economic Progress Council) to the House Commerce Committee on Tuesday morning. She focused her presentation on the Vermont Employment Growth Incentive (VEGI) and a proposed forgivable loan incentive. She shared that the Council supports S.247 as it sends a message to the business community that “Vermont is encouraging businesses to come… stay… and create better workforce opportunities for Vermonters.”
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VOTE: Basic Needs Budget - March 20, 2024
S.246, which amends the Vermont basic needs budget, appeared on the Senate Floor on Wednesday afternoon. Senator Clarkson outlined the members that assisted in a Technical Advisory Committee. They reviewed the Basic Needs Budget and Livable Wage metrics which are assessed by the Joint Fiscal Office (JFO) biennially and presented to the Senate Committees.
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Ben Kinsley published Miscellaneous Education Bill (H.874) - March 20, 2024 in News 2024-03-24 09:57:57 -0400
Miscellaneous Education Bill (H.874) - March 20, 2024
The House Ways and Means Committee reviewed H.874 on Wednesday.
The bill proposes several amendments to education law in Vermont. The amendments include repealing the High School Completion Program and making changes to the State's adult education and literacy program. The bill also aims to continue funding for the community schools program, require school districts to include military-related options in career development and postsecondary planning resources, and require the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC) to include information on military-related options in planning resources.
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Ben Kinsley published Cooperative Education Services (H.630) - March 20, 2024 in News 2024-03-24 09:56:05 -0400
Cooperative Education Services (H.630) - March 20, 2024
Legislative Counsel began the House Ways & Means Committee meeting on Wednesday with a discussion regarding the inclusion of Career and Technical Education centers (CTEs) in the Boards of Cooperative Education Services (BOCES) model that in H.630.
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School Budgets - March 21, 2024
Brooke Olsen-Farrell (Superintendent, Slate Valley Supervisory Union) shared that their budget failed by a 464-vote margin. Voters in her district seem to “pride themselves on keeping education spending low.” Despite being among the lowest spending in the state and being “advantaged” by Act 127.
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Ben Kinsley
Ben has over a decade of experience in public policy, government relations, and advocacy here in Vermont. He served two tours of duty as a staffer for CFV and then as executive director. After working for several public officials, lobbying firms, and non-profits, Ben started his own public policy research and development consulting firm in 2017. Since then, Imperium Advisors has developed from in-depth policy research outfit to offering a whole suite of products and services around public policy and advocacy from ideation to implementation.
He has worked with dozens of clients across New England and is passionate about taking on intractable challenges with creative solutions – things that impact Vermont like education, health care, energy, public/private investment, and workforce development. Since leaving as Executive Director in 2017, Ben has remained on the CFV Board of Directors and continues to assist with executing on policy initiatives. He also enjoys helping his neighbors and volunteering for community groups.
Enjoying the outdoors is one of Ben’s favorite pastimes; hiking, skiing, and mountain biking are all regular activities. As a native Vermonter, he loves the state and is committed to seeing Vermont’s communities grow and prosper.
Ben lives with his wife Kayla and their dog Pippa in Burlington, VT.