Phil Baruth

Republican Gov. Phil Scott says he won’t let a state budget go into law unless the Legislature approves an education reform bill that includes mandatory school district consolidation. House lawmakers have refused to budge on forced mergers, and they've begun preparing for a government shutdown over the issue.

The bill seeks to lower education costs in Vermont's highest-spending districts. But districts that don't rein in spending accordingly could see significant financial penalties as a result.

Richards’ entry is stirring excitement in a Democratic Party that now has two millennial-generation women with deep roots in rural Vermont vying for the chance to challenge 67-year-old Phil Scott, the five-term Republican incumbent who regularly polls as the most popular governor in the country.

Democratic leaders say they don't have the votes to move forward with mandatory school district consolidation. And they say it's become clear to them that Vermonters don't want it.

It is unusual for pro tems who aren’t seeking higher office to announce their retirement mid-session. Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth said he wanted to give his colleagues time to choose his replacement.

Some lawmakers want to replace the commission, enacted into law last year, with a new model for international partnerships. But the commission's supporters say it's the most effective vehicle to improve ties with what they consider the gateway to the European Union.

Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth will introduce legislation this week that he says will deliver property tax relief as soon as next year, but the proposal is already encountering skepticism within the Statehouse.

The critical first phase of Act 73 — mandatory school district mergers — has ignited fierce opposition in communities across Vermont. And lawmakers now have to confront the possibility that the reform law, enacted just six months ago, no longer has the political support needed to move forward as originally envisioned.

Streamlining governance in Vermont’s education system is the critical first step in a sweeping education reform law approved by Democratic lawmakers and Republican Gov. Phil Scott earlier this year. But a special commission created by the Legislature is urging lawmakers to rethink that plan.

Democratic lawmakers have spent the last five years laying the groundwork for the most aggressive emissions-reduction policies Vermont has ever seen, but a political sea change after the November election has brought that work to a “standstill,” according to legislators and climate advocates.