Vermont’s House of Representatives passed an important piece of legislation on Friday that updates the state’s container redemption program known commonly as the Bottle Bill. The legislation, H.175, expands the Bottle Bill program to include wine and non-carbonated drinks like water, iced tea, sports drinks, and juice. Under the current…
Read More
Our democracy is under attack right now in states across the country. In fact, more than 250 anti-voter bills have been introduced in at least 43 states. The new Georgia law (which, among other things, makes it a crime to give food and water to a voter standing in line…
Read More
On March 24, the Vermont Senate gave its final approval by a vote of 22-8 to legislation (S.51) that would make important changes to state campaign finance law. Most significantly under S.51, only individuals, political committees, and political parties would be allowed make political contributions to candidates. The bill would increase transparency in campaign finance as well, by requiring political…
Read More
H.175 is the best opportunity we’ve had in decades to modernize Vermont’s popular Bottle Bill. Recently, hundreds of our VPIRG members responded to our call to action and sent an email to their representatives in the Legislature. This added a burst of momentum to our campaign and apparently scared the bejesus out of the corporate…
Read More
The Vermont Senate gave initial approval today in a voice vote to legislation that will make permanent the policy that was put in place as an emergency measure in 2020 to mail all active registered voters a ballot for the general election. In addition to making universally-mailed ballots permanent for…
Read More
More than 4 out of 5 also want it updated to cover more containers. Vermont’s Bottle Bill is not only one of the state’s most successful environmental programs, having recycling more than 10 billion containers since 1972, it also may be the most popular. The Vermont Public Interest Research Group…
Read More
According to a new poll released Tuesday, Vermont voters are overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the practice of mailing a ballot to every voter, a policy that was put in place by state leaders on a temporary basis last year. The poll, conducted by the independent firm Lincoln Park Strategies…
Read More
At VPIRG, we’re not generally in the business of urging people not to demonstrate or protest peacefully. These are time-honored tactics by which we make our voices heard and show the breadth of support for our campaigns. In fact, the day after the election in November we co-sponsored a State…
Read More
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan announced a settlement agreement with Chittenden Solid Waste District (CSWD) today regarding the District’s improper dumping of approximately 18,000 tons of processed glass between 2013 and 2018. As part of the agreement, CSWD is required to make payments totaling $400,000, $178,000 of which will go…
Read More
We applaud federal Judge Geoffrey Crawford for dismissing a lawsuit intended to derail Vermont’s plan for universal mail-in voting this year. It has been sad to see Republicans standing in the way of safe voting in Vermont at every turn this year. They voted against it in the legislature. The…
Read More