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Capitol Recap: As Congress eyes deep cuts to federal spending, Vermont lawmakers ponder their options

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Capitol Recap: As Congress eyes deep cuts to federal spending, Vermont lawmakers ponder their options


Vermont lawmakers are considering postponing or even eliminating some of their key spending priorities as they attempt to gird next year’s state budget against potentially drastic cuts in federal funding.

Fiscal analysts say proposals under consideration in the Republican-controlled Congress would lead to significant cuts in the federal revenues that budget writers in Vermont — and every other state — rely on.

Vermont lawmakers won’t have a clearer picture of the federal funding situation until after adjournment, which is tentatively scheduled for late May. Washington County Sen. Andrew Perchlik, the Democratic chair of the Senate Commitee on Appropriations, said there’s no way Vermont can adequately prepare for a “worst-case scenario.”

“But we’ve tried to build that budget with that eye towards an uncertain future, to prepare … for the worst that we can prepare for,” Perchlik said.

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We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet.

Middlebury Rep. Robin Scheu

Those contingency measures, however, could come at a cost to community-based providers that play a key role in Vermont’s health care system. The budget finalized by the Senate this week includes tens of millions of dollars in increased funding for mental health agencies, federally qualified health centers and nursing homes, all of which serve a disproportionately large share of low-income patients.

The Senate plan would delay implementation of those rate increases until Nov. 1, Perchlik said, so that lawmakers can consider redirecting the money to backfill losses in federal funding, when and if they materialize.

“We would need every penny we can to just protect the most vulnerable Vermonters — senior citizens in skilled nursing facilities and things like that,” Perchlik said. “We would need the money that we thought we could spend on increasing rates just on keeping facilities open.”

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That plan gives some lawmakers pause, including Middlebury Rep. Robin Scheu, the Democratic chair of the House Committee on Appropriations. Scheu said the decision to increase funding for those agencies reflects the financial stressors they’re already experiencing. And for every dollar the state invests in rate increases, it draws down more than a dollar from the federal government.

Peter Hirschfeld

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Vermont Public

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Gov. Phil Scott says he’ll call the full Legislature back to Montpelier for a special session, if cuts to federal funding warrant.

“Should we (delay the increases), we are also leaving a significant amount of federal money on the table that we wouldn’t get back,” she said.

Scheu said she agrees that lawmakers may need to postpone some budget line items. The difficult choice, she said, will be figuring out which ones. Uncertainty over where federal cuts will come, and how deep they’ll be, Scheu said, has been hanging over her committee for months.

“That’s really stressful, to just not know,” she said. “The news could be bad but then we’d know something. It’s sort of like when you get a diagnosis you at least have some relief that you know what you’re dealing with. We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet.”

Lawmakers have begun to develop the process by which they’ll respond to potential cuts. The budget bill approved by the Senate says that if revenues drop by anywhere between 1% and 4%, then Secretary of Administration Sarah Clark will prepare an expenditure reduction plan that would need to be approved by the Legislature’s 10-person Joint Fiscal Committee. Lawmakers will draft an adjournment resolution that would bring the entire Legislature back to Montpelier this fall if revenue reductions exceed 4%.

Republican Gov. Phil Scott said that if federal cuts open up substantial holes in the state budget, he’d use his executive power to summon all lawmakers back to Montpelier.

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“I think we’re all in the same frame of mind that if it gets to a point where we can’t handle this … that we would have to bring the General Assembly back,” Scott said.

Scott said there’s little value in attempting to predict what Congress will do.

“I still don’t know exactly what the ramifications are of the tariffs,” he said. “If we just continue to react to everything that happens, we’ll be chasing our tail, and we won’t be focusing on the work we have here in Vermont.”

As lawmakers enter the final weeks of the legislative session, Scott said his most pressing concern is with the size of the Legislature’s budget, and the fact that it doesn’t include full funding for some of his top priorities, which include about $30 million for revolving loan funds for housing and rental units for middle-income residents.

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21-year-old killed in wrong-way crash on I-89 in Vermont; other driver cited

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21-year-old killed in wrong-way crash on I-89 in Vermont; other driver cited


A 21-year-old is dead after a pickup truck slammed head-on into her vehicle on Interstate 89 Wednesday evening in Bolton, Vermont, and the other driver involved has been cited.

State police say they responded around 5:22 p.m. to reports of a wrong-way driver in the area of mile marker 71. As troopers were responding, a multi-vehicle crash on the interstate was reported to dispatchers.

A preliminary investigation shows 45-year-old Timothy Wooster was driving a Toyota Tundra in the northbound lane when he crossed the median into the southbound lane, where he continued traveling the wrong way until he collided head-on with a Kia Sportage that was being driven by 21-year-old Hailey Westcot, police said.

A third vehicle, a Cascadia Freightliner, was traveling southbound when the head-on collision happened ahead, causing the vehicle to strike Westcot’s car and then rollover.

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Westcot, of Northfield, Vt., was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Wooster, of Jericho, Vt., was taken to University of Vermont Medical Center to be treated for serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

The third driver who was involved, 50-year-old Douglas Bailey, of Londonderry, New Hampshire, was evaluated on scene and did not report any injuries, police added.

Officials haven’t said what led Wooster to allegedly drive in the wrong direction on the highway. Wooster was cited on a charge of grossly negligent operation with death resulting. Further charges will be determined as the investigation continues, according to police.

Any witnesses are asked to contact Trooper Shawn Morrow at 802-878-7111. Anonymous tips can be submitted online here. The investigation remains ongoing.

It’s unclear if Wooster has obtained legal representation at this time. He’s due in Chittenden County Superior Court on Jan. 29, 2026.

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UVM men’s rugby team wins first-ever national championship – VTDigger

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UVM men’s rugby team wins first-ever national championship – VTDigger


The University of Vermont men’s rugby team celebrates after winning its national championship game against the University of Chicago on Sunday, Dec. 14. Photo courtesy of National Collegiate Rugby

The University of Vermont men’s rugby team romped the University of Chicago last weekend, 71-5, to win its first-ever national championship. It’s the second time, notably, that a UVM sports team has won a national-level title in the past year.

Rugby is not a varsity sport at UVM — such as soccer or basketball — which means the school’s men’s and women’s teams play outside of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, or NCAA. The men’s team plays in National Collegiate Rugby’s Division II, which has more than 100 teams in different regional conferences across the country.

The team’s win Sunday capped an undefeated season that also saw it dispatch rivals in earlier rounds of the Division II tournament by double-digit margins.

“It really hasn’t even set in yet, still. Every time I see a picture or something, I’m like, holy — I can’t believe it,” said Jack Worobel, a senior mechanical engineering major at UVM who plays in the No. 4, or “lock,” position. “It’s awesome.”

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In UVM’s rugby league, 15 players are on the field for each team at a time. Players advance the ball by running or kicking it but aren’t allowed to pass the ball forward. Points come primarily through “tries,” which are worth five points each and scored by bringing the ball into the opponent’s in-goal area and touching it to the ground.

Worobel credited UVM’s win to strong bonds that he said he and his teammates have built up over the past four years. A number of the players, including himself, have been on the team every year since they were first-year students, he said.

UVM has had a men’s rugby team since 1970, according to a school press release.

The University of Vermont men’s rugby team handily defeated the University of Chicago 71–5 to win its first ever national championship. Photo courtesy of National Collegiate Rugby

“We all do anything for each other. Anyone would do a favor for anyone else on this team — I think that’s where the win comes (from),” Worobel said Wednesday. “It’s not from the skill or the talents. Really, it’s what’s off the field.”

The rugby team’s win comes about a year after UVM’s men’s soccer team — which competes at the highest level of collegiate athletics — won the NCAA Division I championship last December. UVM has also won six NCAA championships in skiing, with the most recent coming in 2012.

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Police investigating after ATV stolen from Vt. driveway

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Police investigating after ATV stolen from Vt. driveway


Police are asking for the public’s help in their ongoing investigation into a stolen all-terrain vehicle in Derby, Vermont.

State police say they were notified around 4 p.m. on Oct. 31 that a Camouflage 2008 Yamaha Rhino 700 ATV had been stolen from a driveway on Main St. The theft occurred some time between 10 p.m. on Oct. 30 and 7 a.m. on Oct. 31.

No other details were immediately available. Police did released two photos as part of the investigation.

Anyone with information about this theft is encouraged to call Vermont State Police at 802-334-8881, or leave an anonymous tip online.

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