By Yaël Ossowski | Vermont Watchdog With an office and desk housed within the Vermont Department of Taxes, Gloria Hobson is not your average salaried government employee. In fact, based upon her job description and title, one would argue…
Posts tagged Vermont Watchdog
Vermont wants to be first state to ban ‘predatory loans’ for pensioners
By Yaël Ossowski | Vermont Watchdog On the trail of scammers, Vermont aims to set up financial guard dogs to sniff out companies offering high-interest predatory loans to elderly pensioners. A proposed state law would put a…
The 10 state jobs you didn’t know your Vermont taxes covered
By Yaël Ossowski | Vermont Watchdog In keeping with Vermont Watchdog‘s mission of keeping state government accountable, a quick peek at the state payroll is always important. The state of Vermont has 7,805 public employees, according to the Department of…
In VT, state psychiatrist makes $40,000 more than governor
By Yaël Ossowski | Vermont Watchdog All of the problems in Vermont seem bad enough to warrant paying big for mental health professionals. A recent examination of the employee state compensation database in Vermont shows the highest-paid public employee…
New Hampshire marijuana vote pushes Vermont to New England ‘domino effect’
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org The dominoes are falling all across New England. The New Hampshire House of Representatives made history last week when it became the first state Legislature to vote in favor of a bill to legalize…
Vermont’s ‘welfare-to-work’ limits show early success
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org Vermont last year began limiting how long its residents could receive welfare benefits. Six months later, the move appears successful. The ‘Reach Up’ initiative has already received fewer requests to join the…
Vermont governor declares new ‘War on Drugs,’ but pumps up old bureaucracy
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org Vermont is knee-deep in a crisis of epic proportions, Gov. Peter Shumlin declared in his State of the State speech Wednesday. He’s determined to end it. “The crisis I am talking about is the…
Vermont town to lose biggest taxpayer as nuclear plant shutters
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org When nuclear power finally vanishes from Vermont’s borders this year, the town of Vernon will suffer the loss of its biggest taxpayer. As discovered in tax agreements with city officials, the announced…
From horse lying to lengthy beer tasting, the 10 strangest Vermont laws
By Yaël Ossowski | Watchdog.org In many aspects, Vermont isn’t not afraid to buck the status quo. After the Revolutionary War, it existed as its own republic for nearly 14 years. It was the first state to introduce women’s…
Fox News Hit: Vermont says ‘tis the season’ to hike texting fines
By Yaël Ossowski Published December 19, 2013 Read story here