The fate of H.202 in committee was fairly certain last night; the committee was set to reconvene at 10 p.m. to hash out final details before voting it through. We'll have an update on that status this morning. Details as of 9 p.m. last night are in Pete's story here.
More than 250 doctors, nurses and volunteers visited Montpelier on Wednesday to tell legislators why they think a proposed tax increase on health care providers is a bad idea.
Among them was Kristin Baker, who takes pride that the emergency department at Fletcher Allen Health Care, where she is nurse manager, is the only one in the state to offer specialized emergency-room care. But she told lawmakers that some of those services would be eliminated if Gov. Peter Shumlin’s proposed tax increase on hospitals goes into effect....
And while we're on taxes:
House lawmakers on Thursday sought to rally support around a new tax proposal that could raise as much as $50 million in revenue next year by tapping the incomes of middle- and upper-class Vermonters. At an informal meeting shortly after noon, about two dozen legislators listened to a presentation by the main architects of the plan. Rep. Johanna Leddy Donovan, a Burlington Democrat, said the Legislature cannot abide the $44 million in human-services cuts proposed by Gov. Peter Shumlin....
And Thatcher Moats writes about a new kind of buy local:
Anthony Pollina is proposing favoritism for Vermonters where state contracts are concerned.
On the campaign trail last fall, candidates of every political stripe said creating jobs to help Vermonters rebound from the Great Recession was a top priority. Sen. Anthony Pollina, a Washington County Democrat, believes a bill he has introduced this year is an opportunity for lawmakers to follow through on those promises. Pollina is the lead sponsor of a “hire local, buy local” bill that would require state government to hire Vermont workers and buy local food as it spends taxpayer money.
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