For the past eight months, municipal officials seeking advice from the Vermont State Ethics Commission have been greeted by an apology on the organization’s website.

“With regret, due to lack of staffing,” the top of the webpage reads, “the State Ethics Commission can no longer provide advisory and complaint services to municipalities.”

In 2024, the Vermont Legislature established a uniform code of ethics for town and city governments, and directed the State Ethics Commission to provide training, advice and guidance on how to uphold it. Lawmakers, however, failed to provide the commission with additional resources to fulfill those duties.

With one part-time executive director and one part-time administrative assistant, commission officials say, providing advice to municipalities has become “an impossibility.” Paul Erlbaum, one of five volunteer state ethics commissioners, told lawmakers this week that the body may disband altogether if lawmakers don’t approve at least $300,000 in additional funding next year for two new staff positions. The commission’s budget this fiscal year is about $250,000.

“The continued existence of the commission is precarious, I’ll put it that way,” Erlbaum told members of the Senate Government Operations Committee. “We know this is a really, really tight budget year — we’re not doubting that. But the commission staff is just treading water. And frankly we’re going to go down unless we get staff.”

The ethics commission came into being in 2018 after government watchdogs routinely panned the state for its lack of any independent oversight apparatus. Lawmakers expanded the commission’s duties dramatically in 2024 by reforming the ethics regulatory landscape for municipalities, and directing the commission to vet complaints and issue advisory opinions.

Will Stevens, another commissioner, said the panel exists not only “to ensure good governance,” but to signal to Vermonters that “our representative form of government is acting in their broad interests.”

With public trust in government at historic lows, Stevens said, the role of the ethics commission is especially important now.

“The Legislature, while acting with good intent, created what amounts to an unfunded mandate,” Stevens said. “It’s a time-honored practice to ensure an entity’s failure to give it more to do while limiting their resources.”

Republican Gov. Phil Scott allowed the 2024 legislation that expanded the commission’s duties to go into law without his signature. While he welcomed the increased oversight, Scott said at the time, he objected to creating new administrative burdens without additional funding.

Though Scott’s concerns proved prescient, the budget he presented to lawmakers earlier this month does not include additional funding for the commission.

“We had to make difficult choices in this budgetary cycle, knowing the limited amount of resources that we have,” Scott said Wednesday.

That leaves lawmakers to decide, once again, whether to fund the good-governance instrument they created.

Sen. Tanya Vyhovsky, a member of the Senate Government Operations Committee, has advocated for increased funding for the commission for years. The Chittenden County Progressive said it’s been tough to make any headway with members of the Senate Appropriations Committee.

“I think there is often a sense that things are sort of fine. And sure, we should do something, but it can wait,” Vyhovsky said.

Vyhovsky said the commission’s request is small relative to the $9.4 billion state budget. Given the financial strain on the commission now, she said, failure to fund additional staff will raise questions about the Legislature’s commitment to its mission.

“At that point,” Vyhovsky said, “the question has to be raised — is the point just so we can feel good and pat ourselves on the back and say we’re doing something without actually doing anything?”

Two Vermont youth athletes were named to the National Brotherhood of Snowsports 2026 team roster, according to a community announcement from the organization.

Bronson Culver, a ski racer from South Londonderry who attends Burke Mountain Academy, and Chelsea Charles, a ski racer from Winhall who attends Stratton Mountain School, were selected for the roster.

Youth athletes on the team will be recognized at the organization’s 53rd summit Feb. 28 to March 8 at Keystone Resort in Colorado, according to the announcement.

The National Brotherhood of Snowsports is a national nonprofit representing the largest network of Black and Brown snowsports athletes in the U.S. across more than 60 ski and snowboard clubs.

The team serves as the organization’s national development team, providing athletes with financial support, coaching access, structured competitive tiers and a long-term pathway designed to help underrepresented competitors advance through regional, national and international levels of the sport, according to the announcement.

The team is primarily backed by a scholarship fund started in the late 1970s, which provides need-based assistance for training, travel, competition and equipment.

The fund remains one of the nation’s longest-running support systems for underrepresented athletes pursuing elite competition, according to the group. The org has supported more than 45 athletes who have gone on to compete across regional, collegiate, national, Paralympic and Olympic levels, according to the

• 74% of residents support the extension of the ACA subsidies, while 19% oppose.
• Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said that resurrecting the Affordable Care Act subsidies could depend on President Donald Trump in an interview with NPR Jan. 1.
• 92%, including majorities of all parties, disapprove of Congress’s handling of healthcare.

Most Vermont residents support extending the recently expired Obamacare subsidies, which were at the center of the government shutdown fight last year and continue to cause tension on Capitol Hill, according to a new poll from the University of New Hampshire Survey Center.

Democrats in Congress had refused to support a government funding bill that didn’t extend COVID-era subsidies for lower income Americans under the Affordable Care Act, leading to longest-ever government shutdown in October and November as GOP lawmakers would not extend the subsidies, citing reports of fraud and criticisms of Obamacare more broadly. The two sides ultimately came to a deal to reopen the government, and the subsidies expired at the end of 2025.

While the House voted to extend the subsidies in early January, the legislation is less likely to pass the Senate, which has previously voted against it. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., said that resurrecting the Affordable Care Act subsidies could depend on President Donald Trump in an interview with NPR Jan. 1.

In Vermont, 74% of residents support the extension of the subsidies, while 19% oppose. This is divided along party lines, with 99% of Democrats in support and 62% of Republicans in opposition.

When asked about Obamacare in general, 55% of Vermont residents said they wanted to expand the law, including 79% of Democrats. 21% want to repeal the law entirely, including 72% of Republicans.

73% disapprove of how President Donald Trump has handled healthcare, but more disapprove of how Congress has handled the issue. 92%, including majorities of all parties, disapprove of Congress’s handling of healthcare.

The Green Mountain State Poll, a States of Opinion Project conducted by UNH Survey Center and released Jan. 26, surveyed 765 Vermont residents online from Jan. 15 – 19. It has a margin of error of +/- 3.5%.

Do Vermonters support a “single-payer” health care plan?

A plurality (70%) of Vermont residents would support a national single-payer health care plan, the poll revealed.

A single-payer system is where all Americans would get insurance from a single government plan. It’s often championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who calls his plan “Medicare for all.”

Support for the plan is divided by party: 92% of Democrats support, while 61% of Republicans oppose. Those with a higher household income are also more likely to support the idea.

How healthy are Vermonters?

In the poll, most Vermonters said they were in either good (50%) or very good (34%) health.

However, nearly half (47%) of Vermont residents say that it is difficult to pay for their overall medical care expenses, and 67% said that overall medical costs have gone up in the past 12 months. Just 1% said they have declined.