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Pat Mcdonald published School Construction Joint Hearing - Feb 1, 2024 in News 2024-02-03 22:03:01 -0500
School Construction Joint Hearing - Feb 1, 2024
In 2021, Vermont initiated a comprehensive inventory and assessment of all public school buildings through Act 72, aiming to address long-standing issues stemming from the suspension of a school construction aid program in 2008. The subsequent creation of the School Construction Aid Taskforce in 2023, mandated by Act 78, aimed to analyze the assessment results and formulate recommendations for a new statewide aid program.
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Pat Mcdonald published Government Response to Flood Recovery - Jan 30, 2024 in News 2024-02-03 21:39:25 -0500
Government Response to Flood Recovery - Jan 30, 2024
Representatives from the Vermont National Guard showed a slide show with a map of July rainfall in the State clearly showing the devastation. It was noted that municipalities made some changes following Tropical Storm Irene which held up during this event. The Guard did not have to respond as much as might have been anticipated because of this. They explained how the ‘chain of command’ works with Department of Public Safety and Vermont Emergency Management (VEM). The 15th Civil Support Team responded with 54 pieces of equipment.
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Wealth Tax (H.827/H.828) - Jan 30, 2024
Joyce Manchester (Senior Economist, Joint Fiscal Office) presented a wealth tax proposal to the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. The bill is also referred to as the "Fair Share for Vermont" proposal. The proposal is to increase taxes on the wealthiest Vermont residents to "build a better Vermont." The proposal will increase taxes on the top 2% of Vermont taxpayers, and raise nearly $100M each year in state revenue. According to Manchester, a wealth tax is usually defined as an annual tax levied on the net worth, or total assets net of all debts, of an individual or household above an exemption threshold.
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Government Ethics - Jan 24, 2024
The first person to testify on the draft ethics bills in front of the House Government Operations Committee was Ted Brady (Executive Director, Vermont League of Cities and Towns).
NOTE: Brady had submitted a letter to the Committee which we had read when preparing our last newsletter. In my mind, the letter did not clearly present the League’s position on a statewide ethics bill. In listening to this week's presentation, it became very clear what his position is.
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Pat Mcdonald published Career and Technical Education (H.716) - Jan, 26, 2024 in News 2024-01-28 10:09:14 -0500
Career and Technical Education (H.716) - Jan, 26, 2024
The House Education Committee heard from Scott Farr (Director, River Valley Technical Center) on Friday, speaking to a letter he wrote which was previously reviewed by the Senate Education Committee as part of their testimony on S.207.
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Pat Mcdonald published Vermont State Colleges Update - Jan 26, 2024 in News 2024-01-28 10:17:01 -0500
Vermont State Colleges Update - Jan 26, 2024
Elizabeth (Beth) Mauch (Chancellor, Vermont State Colleges) introduced herself to the House Education Committee on Friday and talked about her excitement about taking on her new role. She has spent a quarter century in higher education and is excited that the Vermont Legislature has made such a "strong commitment" to the state system and is looking forward to the future at the state Colleges (VCS).
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Public Safety Hearing - Jan 17, 2024
As a follow up to the joint meeting of House and Senate Judiciary Committees on January 10th, Jennifer Morrison and Barbara Neal co-chairs for the Public Safety Communications Task Force issued a Status Report on January 12th.
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Government Ethics - Jan 16, 2024
Christina Sivret (Executive Director, Vermont State Ethics Commission) testified on two draft bills in the House Government Operations Committee on Tuesday.
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Workforce Investment System
The House Commerce Committee took up the workforce investment system & registered apprenticeship program annual report on Tuesday. Because the full report is 70 pages, Chairman Marcotte asked that a summary of the report be provided to the Committee.
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Workforce Development Governance Report
The House Commerce Committee heard from a consulting group on Tuesday regarding the governance of the state's workforce development programs.
The goals of this report included:
- Outline Vermont’s exiting workforce system and detailing the roles and reporting structure of each entity involved.
- Report on the existing level of formal and informal coordination and integration across workforce programs.
- Identify potential barriers to effective governance, administration, and integration.
- Identify how and when participant and program level information is shared between system partners.
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Public Safety Task Force - Jan 3, 2024
The House Government Operations Committee heard from the chair of the Public Safety Task Force (Commissioner Morrison, Department of Public Safety) on Tuesday. The Task Force was established under Act 78 to create a statewide communication system for first responders and law enforcement. She introduced her co-chair Barbara Neal, the Executive Director of the enhanced e911 board. Neal talked about the members of the task force and the work accomplished to date. They have held 30 meetings since the task force’s inception, but the Commissioner noted that there are some who think they have nothing to show for it.
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Legislative Compensation (S.224) - Jan 9, 2024
The Senate Government Operations Committee reviewed S.224 on Tuesday, which would increase legislative pay and benefits.
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Green Mountain Jobs Program - Jan 9, 2024
The House Commerce Committee heard updates from experts on Tuesday about the Green Mountain Jobs Retention Program.
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Public Safety Hearing - Jan 10th, 2024
The House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Judiciary Committee held a joint hearing on Wednesday to cover concerns surrounding public safety. Jennifer Morrison (Commissioner, Department of Public Safety) talked about the lack of accountability. Even those arrested note that Vermont has a reputation for being soft on crime and has a catch and release policy without any regard to the harm being done by repeat offenders. While police continue to do their job of seeking out and arresting criminals, their actions must be accompanied by consequences.
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Pat Mcdonald published Changes to Boards and Commissions (H.125) - May 9, 2023 in News 2023-05-14 17:21:20 -0400
Changes to Boards and Commissions (H.125) - May 9, 2023
The Senate took up H.125 on the floor Wednesday, which deals with a number of different boards and commissions. Notably, the bill would repeal the Clean Energy Development Board and limit the authority of the Vermont Telecommunications Authority.
It also repeals the Government Accountability Committee and makes the Vermont Pension Investment Commission (VPIC)more independent from the State Treasurer.
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Pat Mcdonald published Changes to Election Laws (H.429) - May 9-12, 2023 in News 2023-05-14 17:20:42 -0400
Changes to Election Laws (H.429) - May 9-12, 2023
A bill changing numerous education provisions, H.429, generated a great deal of interest this session. Numerous people testified in both the House and Senate. On May 9th, a strike-all amendment from the Senate Government Operations Committee was considered. It incorporated provisions from S.32, which would create a Ranked-Choice Voting system for presidential primary elections.
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Pat Mcdonald published Expanding Apprenticeships (H.452) - Overview in News 2023-05-13 16:43:46 -0400
Expanding Apprenticeships (H.452) - Overview
The bill expanding Vermont's Apprenticeship programs, H.452, passed both House and Senate in the final days of the legislative session and is on its way to the Governor for signature. It was an important bill for the Vermont Department of Labor (VDOL) and the Administration. This bill (which is 52 pages) puts current practice into statute to ensure compliance with the federal law.
Additionally, these changes needed in order to leverage federal grants, to modernize the system, to provide support for employees, to ensure the programs are doing what they say they are doing, and to give VDOL the authority to manage the programs.
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Pat Mcdonald published Workforce and Economic Development (H.484) - May 2-3, 2023 in News 2023-05-07 16:25:40 -0400
Workforce and Economic Development (H.484) - May 2-3, 2023
In preparation to receive H.484 back from the Senate, the House Commerce Committee began digging into the differences between their version of the bill and the Senate's version on Tuesday.
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Rewriting Apprenticeship Statutes
Jay Ramsey from the Department of Labor joined the House Commerce Committee on Wednesday to catch them up to speed on Vermont's apprenticeship landscape. He shared that Apprenticeships are a proven workforce solution. A registered apprenticeship is an industry-driven, high-quality career pathway where employers can develop and prepare their future workforce and individuals can obtain paid work experience, receive progressive wage increases, classroom instruction, and a portable, nationally-recognized credential
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Pat Mcdonald
Pat McDonald’s distinguished career includes 20 years in a wide range of leadership positions throughout state and local government. She served as Commissioner of Labor, Commissioner of Employment and Training, Secretary of Transportation, Deputy Commissioner of Education, Commissioner of Motor Vehicles, and Commissioner of Human Resources (twice) under the Republican and Democratic Administrations of Governors Snelling, Dean and Douglas.
Pat also served as Chair of the Berlin Selectboard and a member of Berlin’s Town Center Task Force, Post Office Committee and Capital Budget and Planning Committee. On a county level, she also volunteered on the Vermont Rural Development Council and Central Vermont Regional Planning Commission.
In 2006 and 2008, Pat was elected to the Vermont House, representing Berlin and Barre City.
While Pat’s leadership qualities are well-suited to public service, she also has approximately 25 years of private-sector experience. She worked for nineteen years at CIBA-GEIGY Corporation in Ardsley, New York, in the human resources department and Office of General Counsel. After she moved to Vermont in 1988, she spent three and a half years at Merchants Bank as Vice-President of Human Resources and Regulatory Management.
In her private life, Pat has served on the Vermont Prevent Child Abuse Board of Vermont as well as the Vermont Granite Museum Board of Directors, and Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice. Pat also served as Chair of the Barre Bike Path Committee.
Pat is married to retired State Police Captain J. Bruce McDonald. Along with her daughter Stacey, Pat has two stepsons, Jim and Jack; and four grandchildren, Zacary, Ryan, Carson and Wyatt. She enjoys the opera, cooking, camping, and touring Vermont’s scenic backroads and covered bridges on her motorcycle. She and her husband are also avid RV campers.
Pat is the founder, host and producer of Vote for Vermont (VFV LLC.), an hour-long community affairs public access TV show which brings viewers a thorough and unique insight into Vermont’s pressing and challenging issues so they can be an informed voter and civic participant. In 2017 VFV joined collaboratively with Campaign for Vermont Prosperity and expanded its programming to reach Vermonters through various social media sources. For the past two years Pat has also served as President of the Board of Directors for Campaign for Vermont Prosperity and as of October 2022, Pat is a guest host for Vermont Viewpoint on WDEV on Tuesday and Thursday.