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Pat Mcdonald published Workforce Development FY2024 Budget - March 1, 2023 in News 2023-03-04 22:10:33 -0500
Workforce Development FY2024 Budget - March 1, 2023
Victoria Biondolillo (Executive Director, State Workforce Development Board) testified to the House Commerce Committee on Wednesday, saying that the data collected by the Workforce Development Board illustrates two major issues:
- The current shortage of labor and need to fill jobs.
- Long term trends and demographic decline.
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Pat Mcdonald published Public Pension Divestment (S.42) - March 3, 2023 in News 2023-03-04 21:31:00 -0500
Public Pension Divestment (S.42) - March 3, 2023
Legislative Counsel presented an amendment, recommended by the Treasurer, on Friday. The amendment adds a new definition of de-minimus exposure which means holding less than 2% of the overall investment. The language recommends that VPIC develop a plan which identifies stocks and securities are carbon-heavy and make suggestions on how to divest by the end of 2030 with minimum exposure of funds.
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Advance Vermont
Tom Cheney presented Advance Vermont’s budget to the House Commerce Committee on Thursday. They are requesting $350,000 in FY2024 through their fiscal sponsor, the Vermont Student Assistance Corporation (VSAC), to continue their workforce development efforts in concert with state partners.
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Pat Mcdonald published VT Outdoor Recreation Community Grant Program (H.275) in News 2023-02-25 14:12:48 -0500
VT Outdoor Recreation Community Grant Program (H.275)
Representative Dolan introduced her short form bill, H.275, to the House Education Committee on Wednesday. Her intention with the bill was to establish education grant pilot projects focused on middle schools for 8th and 9th graders to get them enthusiastic about going to a trade school and to understand the available opportunities. She believes this will be particularly valuable for rural union school districts.
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Giving Preference to CTE Students (H.278)
Representative Oliver presented his bill, H.278, to the House Education Committee on Tuesday. The bill proposes to require the Vermont State Colleges, the University of Vermont, and the State Agricultural College to give preference in admissions to eligible students who are residents of the state and who have completed a career technical education program in a subject matter or industry the postsecondary school offers.
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Vermont State Colleges Funding
The House Appropriations Committee reviewed the FY2024 budget for the Vermont State Colleges (VSC) on Tuesday. Representatives from VSC shared that in 2020 the state asked them to close down three of their campuses to address a structural deficit of $25M per year. In response, they formed a committee and created a plan to reduce the operating deficit by $5M/year for five years.
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Marketing our Higher Education
The Senate Education Committee met on Thursday to discuss marketing our higher education institutions.
Heather Pelham (Commissioner, Department of Tourism and Marketing) talked to the Committee about the Vermont brand. She sees tourism and marketing’s economic impact on Vermont every day:
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Pat Mcdonald published Fossil Fuel Divestment from State Pensions (S.42) - Feb 16 in News 2023-02-19 15:13:13 -0500
Fossil Fuel Divestment from State Pensions (S.42) - Feb 16
The Senate Government Operations Committee reviewed S.42 on Thursday, which would divest state pension funds from fossil fuel investments.
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Pat Mcdonald published Senate Omnibus Housing Bill - Feb 8th, 2023 in News 2023-02-11 16:47:24 -0500
Senate Omnibus Housing Bill - Feb 8th, 2023
The Senate Economic Development Committee heard from Maura Collins on Wednesday about Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC) funds.
Key Takeaways:
- VHFA is proposing a revolving loan fund as a less-complex alternative to LIHTC.
- Employers from all industries are getting squeezed by the housing crisis.
- Construction costs have doubled since 2016.
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Pat Mcdonald published Vermont Futures Project on Omnibus Housing Bill in News 2023-02-11 16:46:46 -0500
Vermont Futures Project on Omnibus Housing Bill
The Senate Economic Development Committee heard from more experts on Friday regarding their Omnibus Housing Bill.
Key Takeaways:
- Permitting takes too long and is duplicative.
- The housing market is changing.
- Vermonters support expanding population and housing.
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Pat Mcdonald published Vermont State Colleges Reporting Bill - Feb. 7, 2023 in News 2023-02-11 16:30:44 -0500
Vermont State Colleges Reporting Bill - Feb. 7, 2023
Legislative counsel reviewed the House Education Committee bill changes (Draft 1.1) on Tuesday that deals with reporting for the Vermont State Colleges (VSC). It is very similar to the house passed version of H.456 in 2022.
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Matt Dunne on Omnibus Housing Bill
Matt Dunne testified in front of the Senate Economic Development Committee Friday morning.
Key takeaways:
- Flexibility is needed
- Every community is different
- There have been significant shifts in winners/losers over the past 40 years
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Letter to House Gov Ops 4/7/2022
Dear Members of the House Government Operations Committee,
I have been working since 1964 - a lot of years, I know. Much of that time I was involved with Human Resources and one of the persons responsible for overseeing pension plans. I was Vermont’s Commissioner of Personnel and Human Resources twice during my career and served on the House Government Operations Committee – the same seats you now sit in.
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Pat Mcdonald published Let's be Honest About Public Employee Compensation in News 2021-11-22 10:06:43 -0500
Letter to the Editor: Let's be Honest About Public Employee Compensation
On November 10th Campaign for Vermont (CFV) held a press conference to review the details of its report entitled The Public Sector Reality. For the record, I am the President of the Board of Directors of CFV. Over the past months of pension discussions at the Legislature we heard claims about the state’s non-competitive wages and we decided to verify those statements. We set out expecting to find that pension benefits were an unquestionable asset to recruiting and retaining our public sector workforce. What we found surprised us.
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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.