Senator Bernie Sanders has been trying to get attention on
the problem on poverty. Senator Sanders is speaking out about about
rising poverty rates, and also Irene recovery funds. And Lynn Scarlett, an energy policy expert, argues that
market-based incentives, rather than government subsidies, are the best approach to climate change.
The Public Service Board says customers of the state’s two largest utilities should help subsidize a new program that aims to make electricity more affordable for the poor.
As the school year comes to a close, free lunch programs are ending for children. But many
families depend on the nutritious, well-balanced meals that their children
get at school because their budgets are already stretched.
A law passed last spring authorizes school districts to provide
pre-kindergarten education to some three and four year olds. Now
officials are working out the details. Also, the anti-poverty work of Hal Colston and singer Harry Belafonte delivers a message about working for social justice.
Wiretapping attorneys, political fundraising and hospital rates were only some of the stories that caught our attention this week. A college campus dealt with two assaults, California turned its eye to Vermont’s car emissions trial and some home owners felt the pinch of adjusted mortgage rates.
Last spring the Legislature passed a law instructing the state to cut childhood poverty in half over the next 10 years. The effort has brought together lawmakers, state agencies and non-profit groups to rethink how we deal with poverty in Vermont. We talk with some of the people behind this effort about the new approach they’re taking.