Make state college accessible, affordable for all Vermonters

I have faith that the Legislature will increase funding in our upcoming budget adjustment so that Northern Vermont University and Vermont Technical College will be able to meet their short-term costs. 

Moving forward, I cannot assure you that funding is a done deal, as I am only one of 180 representatives and senators. What I can tell you that I will not support a budget that does not include adequate funding, and I am not the only one.

But the future of our state college system does not lie solely in the hands of the Legislature and increases in funding. The board of trustees and the community need to collectively come together and work to keep NVU here.

We need to come up with creative ideas and strategies to increase enrollment, secure funding sources and find a path to keep our state college system accessible and affordable for all Vermonters. I look forward to hearing your ideas, and so does NVU at  northernvermont.edu/strong.

Small businesses hurting

NVU is not the only part of our community that has been adversely effected by this crisis. Our small businesses that are the backbone of our community have been shuttered for weeks.

As new cases of COVID-19 begin to drop and the stay-at-home orders begin to be lifted, we will need to go out of our way to support the businesses in Lamoille County as they get back on their feet.

Remote voting

April 23, 2020, will go down as a historic day for the Vermont House of Representatives as we held our first-ever Zoom House session.

While my counterparts in the Senate have been holding remote floor sessions, the House is five times the size and required a different level of coordination. We started by approving a rule change to allow for temporary remote voting during the state of emergency. We then passed legislation to provide for the administration of the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. This program provides unemployment benefits to self-employed individuals. 

We made some changes to laws that permit the execution of a will without having to be in direct contact with other people, and provisions to ensure we are on a sound financial footing by allowing our treasurer flexibility in the utilization of funds.

This week, we took up only legislation that is directly related to government operation during the state of emergency. I expect we will be adjourning in mid-May after we pass a partial budget. Then we will return in late August when we will have a better idea of revenue projections.

Unemployment claims

I know there continue to be challenges accessing Vermont unemployment insurance. There are also issues accessing benefits for those who are self-employed or are independent contractors through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program.

The backlog at the Vermont Department of Labor is due to obsolete computer equipment and a massive increase in filings. I may be able to help you if you are having a problem. The House has launched a tool where we I can report issues. I can flag concerns for a speedier resolution by the Vermont Department of Labor. 

Please email me at dnoyes@leg.state.vt.us or call 802-730-7171 to provide me with this information: first and last name, phone number, last four digits of Social Security number, email address.

Have you received an unemployment, pandemic unemployment or stimulus check yet?

When did you apply for unemployment?

What issue are you experiencing:

— If regular unemployment insurance:

• Haven’t received a benefit yet

• Didn’t receive the $1,200 check

• Need PIN reset

• Social Security number error

• Eligibility

• Believe you were wrongly denied

— If pandemic unemployment:

• Can’t access the system to finish the application

• Made an error, need to update application

• Haven’t received a benefit yet

• Social Security number error

• Believe you were wrongly denied

Thank you for the opportunity to serve and please reach out if I can be of any assistance. 

Dan Noyes, a Democrat from Wolcott, also represents Belvidere, Hyde Park and Johnson in the Vermont House of Representatives. Email letters to news@newsandcitizen.com.