Governor Scott signs bills on health insurance, drug use, technology
H. 1, which adds exemptions to reporting to the State Ethics Commission, was not signed by Scott. However, he still allowed it to become law, saying that 'it does not rise to the level of a veto' but encouraging legislators to revise it in the future. He objected to any law weakening the State Ethics Commission after its power was strengthened last year.
H. 105 relates to the Youth Substance Awareness Safety Program, which provides an alternative to young offenders of drug laws, where they can enroll in an educational program instead of going through civil courts. The bill lowers the minimum age for enrollment from 16 to 10 and includes alcohol-impaired youth drivers in the scope of the program.
H. 222 allows state courts to require people convicted of domestic violence offenses to complete an accountability program before they are released from a restraining order. It also allows courts to require an offender return vehicles shared by them and a victim.
Vermont exempts some home kitchen businesses from licensing fees
H. 231, about fish and game management, increases penalties for snaring animals. It also makes it an offense to transport a cocked crossbow in a vehicle.
H. 458 increases accountability for state technology programs. It requires that the state's Agency of Digital Services include more detailed information in its reports, including summaries of the scope, timeline, status, and budget of each of its individual projects.
H. 482, about health insurance, allows the Green Mountain Care Board to reduce hospital reimbursement rates for insurers if the insurer is at risk of going bankrupt. It also allows the board to reduce a hospital's budget if the hospital went over budget the previous year, and to appoint an independent overseer to a hospital the board thinks may be out of compliance.
Scott signs bill adding felony charge for abuse of a corpse
Finally, H. 504 approves minor changes to the charter of the City of Rutland, including changes to the city's purchasing policy.
Legislators are still working on some major new legislation, especially an education reform package that Phil Scott decided not to sign after a compromise was reached by the House and Senate.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bessent says US has 'makings of a deal' with China
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday that he believed that Washington has the makings of a deal with China and that he was "optimistic" about the path forward. "This week's negotiations in Stockholm have advanced our talks with China, and I believe that we have the makings of a deal that will benefit both of our great nations," Bessent said in a post on X that was subsequently deleted. "I am optimistic about the path forward," he added. A Treasury Department spokesperson said the post was being reposted because the images attached to it had not uploaded correctly. The spokesperson also noted that the language in the post was in line with what Bessent had said in various media interviews this week. In an interview with CNBC on Thursday, Bessent said the United States believes it has the makings of a trade deal with China, but it is "not 100% done." U.S. negotiators "pushed back quite a bit" over two days of trade talks with the Chinese in Stockholm this week, Bessent told CNBC. China is facing an August 12 deadline to reach a durable tariff agreement with President Donald Trump's administration, after Beijing and Washington reached preliminary deals in May and June to end escalating tit-for-tat tariffs and a cut-off of rare earth minerals. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Newsweek
6 hours ago
- Newsweek
H-1B Visas Under Scrutiny as Big Tech Accelerates Layoffs
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Tech companies in the United States have insisted repeatedly that they need high-skilled foreign workers through the H-1B program, but the visa is coming under greater scrutiny as claims circulate that American-born graduates are being pushed out of the high-paying sector. While Big Tech firms lay off thousands of workers — often specifically noting to investors the efficiencies in AI that allow them to reduce headcount — many of those same companies are still submitting H-1B applications, be they new visa holders or renewals, prompting further outcry from skeptics of the program who want far stricter policies from an administration that rode to power on bold immigration promises. "I don't think you can disentangle these, they have reinforcing effects," Ron Hira, an associate professor at Howard University and long-time H-1B critic, told Newsweek of the factors impacting American computer science and engineering majors. "Nobody knows how much the AI is actually impacting, how much offshore is impacting, the depression and labor demand, but not just H-1B but also OPT [Optional Practical Training], they're all competing for a shrinking labor demand and so that has major impacts on the wages and job opportunities for recent graduates." The H-1B has exploded in the past few decades. Around 400,000 visas were approved in 2024, more than twice the number issued in 2000, with the majority of these being renewals of existing visas, rather than new applications. Most of these foreign workers are employed by large tech companies like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, who pay to keep hold of foreign-born workers. Those on H-1Bs have more difficulties changing jobs, as their immigration status is tied to their employer. Critics have also suggested that companies can pay these employees less than American-born employees doing the same job. Disconnect Between Layoffs and Visas The ongoing reliance on the H-1B comes as some of these same large companies have announced sweeping layoffs, with mid-level and senior roles often hit hardest. Some 80,000 tech jobs have been eliminated so far this year, according to the tracker Immigration skeptics have said employers are favoring cheaper foreign workers over U.S.-born staff, though those companies have strenuously pushed back on such claims. Microsoft, for example, has tried to denounce these claims after going through multiple rounds of layoffs in recent months. "Our H-1B applications are in no way related to the recent job eliminations in part because employees on H-1B's also lost their roles," the company said in a recent statement. "In the past 12 months, 78 percent of the petitions we filed were extensions for existing employees and not new employees coming to the U.S." For critics of the visa program, that doesn't add up. In 2023, U.S. colleges graduated 134,153 citizens or green card holders with bachelor's or master's degrees in computer science. But the same year, the federal government also issued over 110,000 work visas for those in that same field, according to the Institute for Sound Public Policy (IFSPP). "The story of the H-1B program is that it's for the best and the brightest," said Jeremy Beck, co-president of NumbersUSA, a think tank calling for immigration reform. "The reality, however, is that most H-1B workers are classified and paid as 'entry level.' Either they are not the best and brightest or they are underpaid, or both." "It's a program that displaces qualified Americans with cheaper workers from abroad," Beck added. While this is a prevailing argument, the data does not always back it. In 2022, the libertarian Cato Institute's David Bier found that the median wage for U.S. workers the previous year was $45,760, per the Department of Labor, while the median H-1B wage was $108,000. "So, for some folks, if there's a concern of wage depression," Ben Nucci, an immigration and compliance attorney at the law firm Snell & Wilmer, told Newsweek. "You know: 'Hey let's hire a bunch of foreign nationals and pay them peanuts' and it's the U.S. workers that want a decent wage, we've got prevailing wage requirements in the Department of Labor." That refers to regulations require employers to pay a similar rate to visa holders and U.S.-born workers, as dictated by the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA). The Trump administration has reportedly looked at raising the prevailing wage requirements, to bring them more in line with the salaries paid to U.S.-born workers, though an official announcement is still pending. How the H-1B Fits in Immigration Debate Harvard graduate students applaud during the 374th Harvard Commencement in Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 29, 2025. Harvard graduate students applaud during the 374th Harvard Commencement in Harvard Yard in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 29, 2025. RICK FRIEDMAN/AFP via Getty Images The H-1B is just one aspect of the broader immigration debate that has long raged in the U.S. over how much immigration is acceptable and beneficial, and how the flow of new arrivals should be managed. "Something that's actually stayed pretty steady in the last five years is that Americans, for the most part, actually say that legal immigrants mostly fill jobs that American citizens don't want," Sahana Mukherjee, associate director of research at the Pew Research Center, told Newsweek. Pew found in August 2024 that 61 percent of those polled felt that legal immigrants filled jobs American citizens wouldn't do, essentially unchanged from when the same question was asked in 2020. "We also know, from public opinion pulling, that four in 10 Americans say that highly skilled workers should get top priority for legal immigration and another 45 percent say that they should get at least some priority," Mukherjee said, acknowledging that the results may be different if those polled were asked specifically about the H-1B. While Beck and Hira make arguments echoed by many immigration reformists – including Trump's MAGA base – that immigration should be prioritized only after Americans are employed, housed, and financially stable, there are many who broadly support legal, work-based visas as a way to boost the economy. Nucci, the attorney, told Newsweek that many employers who opt for the H-1B or similar programs do not necessarily do it lightly, given that such applications cost thousands of dollars and often require months of waiting for approval. "The clients I deal with would be happy to get a U.S. worker to fill the job," Nucci said. "But it's normally after a significant period of time of advertising and trying to search for someone, and not getting it, that they see this as one of the only options for them, because they are able to recruit someone." Nucci said that even if an employer files for an H-1B and gets approval, they could still opt to hire a U.S.-based worker if a better candidate comes along in the meantime – something which may not be reflected in the data. Priscilla Chan, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla CEO Elon Musk attend the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the... Priscilla Chan, Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg, Lauren Sanchez, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Tesla CEO Elon Musk attend the inauguration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on January 20, 2025, in Washington, STEM Graduates Losing Out? As of July, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service (USCIS) has already reached the 2026 allocation for H-1Bs. While not all will go to those working in Science, Technology, Engineering, or Mathematics (STEM) roles, many AmericanSTEM graduates may be impacted at a time when companies are downsizing, looking to cut costs, and embracing AI. The July jobs report released Friday showed a deteriorating labor market in the U.S., with just 73,000 jobs added for the month. Revisions to earlier data were also significant, with a combined 258,000 jobs slashed from May and June's numbers. Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York in February showed 6.1 percent of recent computer science grads were unemployed, while 16.5 percent were "underemployed", meaning they were in jobs not requiring their degree. Those figures were 7.5 percent and 17 percent for engineering graduates. The central bank data put these two majors among the highest unemployment rates, alongside sociology, information systems and management, with Hira, the Howard professor, telling Newsweek that there are no laws requiring Americans or green card holders to get priority before any H-1B applications are allowed through. "Over the last 15 years, there's been a drum beat by policy makers, by politicians, to push American students into STEM majors, and in fact, we've got record numbers of people graduating with STEM majors, in engineering and computer science, all to face a now very bleak job market," Hira said. "I think it's dangerous for politicians to keep claiming STEM shortages when there's no factual basis for it." This leaves questions hanging over tech companies, and the federal government's approach when STEM companies dominate H-1B allocations. In Fiscal Year 2025, Amazon, Microsoft, Meta, Google, Apple, Oracle, Cisco, Intel, and IBM all appeared in the top 50 employers granted visas – ranging from a few hundred to over 6,000. Mukherjee told Newsweek that a big shift in recent years among H-1B holders is the education level they arrive with. In 2000, 57 percent of H-1B holders held a bachelor's degree, with 30 percent had a master's. That has essentially flipped in the decades since, suggesting visa holders may now be more qualified than the American-born grads applying for the same jobs. What Will The Trump Administration Do? With immigration such a core element of President Donald Trump's return to the White House, there remains heightened interest in how his administration will change work-based visas – with the H-1B the main focus for both advocates and critics. Trump has been seen as a supporter of the program overall, saying he understands the need to attract the best and brightest workers to the U.S. in order to help the economy, while Vice President JD Vance has been openly critical of the program, accusing tech companies of replacing American workers with foreign-born substitutes. During his first term, Trump did attempt to raise wage requirements for the H-1B, but the policy was not pursued by the Biden administration. Now, a plan to introduce a weighted approval system, instead of the current lottery system that dictates most H-1B visas, is being considered. "It's a baby step in the right direction, but it's not nearly sufficient," Hira said. "I mean it's a small reform, there's many other reforms that need to be made to the program." U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters near the Rose Garden after returning to the White House on Marine One on July 29, 2025 in Washington, DC. U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters near the Rose Garden after returning to the White House on Marine One on July 29, 2025 in Washington, who advises employers on the H-1B, he was cautious of a skills-based approach, which he said could also be abused if not handled correctly. He emphasized that many of his clients would rather have an easier time employing those already in the U.S. "Employers are pretty frank with me that they would rather not have to pay the fee and have a system in place where they have to wait until the person is in H-1B status, and even then, they are on the clock," Nucci said. "There's a maximum of six years on the H-1B status. You can go past that six-year limit, but only if you're going to sponsor the employee becoming a permanent resident. "That's a big decision, because if you sponsor someone for permanent residency, you put in all this money, the moment they become a permanent resident, they are free to go." Newsweek reached out to the Department of Labor, the Department of Homeland Security and the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service for comment, but did not receive responses ahead of publishing.
Scientific American
11 hours ago
- Scientific American
—Have Weathered Attacks Before and Won
Worth recalling in this anniversary year, one of Scientific American 's proudest moments came in a past era of attacks on science. The lesson—that speaking out for science is worth the criticism it brings—is surely worth recalling today. The year was 1950, and the 'red scare' was fully underway, alongside a nascent arms race between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. The Soviet demonstration of an atomic bomb in 1949 had galvanized calls for a bigger bomb, a hydrogen bomb, in the U.S., sparking the paranoia today best remembered for claiming the career of Manhattan Project chief J. Robert Oppenheimer. But a war on scientists not toeing the political line was in full swing then, and Scientific American was in the thick of it. On March 20, 1950, a U.S. Atomic Energy Commission agent named Alvin F. Ryan seized and burned 3,000 copies of the forthcoming April issue of Scientific American, which the commission claimed held atomic secrets. Ryan also supervised the melting of four printing plates holding a feature story in the issue, ' The Hydrogen Bomb: II,' that contained the supposedly objectionable information within one of its columns. On supporting science journalism If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. 'Strict compliance with the commission's policies would mean that we could not teach physics,' said an outraged Gerard Piel, then publisher of Scientific American, in the April 1, 1950, report of the seizure on the front page of the New York Times. He threatened to take further censorship to the Supreme Court. Piel had relaunched Scientific American in 1948, with a focus on bringing the views of scientists like Bethe, thoughtfully edited, to the public. This scientists-as-writers approach came about by happenstance, Scientific American editor Gary Stix found while researching the history of the magazine. Piel found it was cheaper to pay scientists to write copy and then rewrite it, rather than hire magazine writers. The approach proved so successful, with the public then clamoring to hear the news straight from scientists, that the magazine had 100,000 readers and 133 pages of advertising by 1950. Berthe's article was just one of four published by the magazine on the H-bomb, which President Harry Truman had decided to pursue in January of 1950. Much debate, among scientists and the public, followed over whether such a weapon would make the U.S. safer or endanger humanity. The Nobel Prize–winning discoverer of how fusion in stars baked elements, Bethe, was in the latter camp. His article went through the physics of fusion and pled to 'save humanity from this ultimate disaster' by reconsidering the president's H-bomb decision, or at least pledging no first use of the weapons in warfare, a commitment still unmade, and widely debated in nuclear circles. 'Piel had made his publication an important forum for critical analysis of U.S. science policy during the coldest years of the cold war,' in exposing the Atomic Energy Commission's attack on press freedom, wrote history professor Alfred W. McCoy. To satisfy the AEC, Bethe made four 'ritual' cuts to the final version of the article and published it. Even so, U.S. security officials continued to pressure scientists and the press over the course of the red scare. The FBI searched Bethe's luggage after a European trip in 1951. ' Scientific American runs to the sort of stuff which the Soviets would like to see in a popular science journal,' claimed an AEC memorandum that same year. The U.S. tested its first H-bomb a year later, and stripped Oppenheimer of his security clearance, in 1954, in a power play now seen as a political vendetta. The arms race played out through the 1960s, building stockpiles of tens of thousands of nuclear missiles on both sides until its folly, and frightening close brushes with Armageddon, lowered those numbers in an era of détente, the sort of world that Bethe had called for in his article. All the while, Scientific American stood for the importance of scientists speaking out, and providing the public, even amid the unhinged persecution of the red scare, choices for a better world. Throughout science, the lesson stood, among eminent voices ranging from Linus Pauling to Carl Sagan. Scientists led calls for test ban treaties and disarmament; they warned of nuclear winter throughout the cold war. In the magazine, former CIA official Herbert Scoville Jr. warned of the danger of a new generation of U.S. submarines as 'first-strike' weapons, that familiar warning, in 1972. Bethe himself kept speaking out, against the Reagan administration's 'Star Wars' missile defense plan as unworkable, costly and destabilizing in the 1980s (views heard today on its current 'Golden Dome' revival). Accepting the Einstein Peace Prize in 1992, he acknowledged that while scientists had not ended the cold war, they had succeeded in 'planting the idea there was an alternative to the arms race.' Their example, and that idea, remains as important as ever, especially with U.S. science facing severe cuts, and nuclear weapons a renewed flashpoint in geopolitics. Piel's statement released after the 1950 seizure—'there is a very large body of technical information in the public domain which is essential to adequate public participation in the development of national policy and on which the American people are entitled to be informed'—still stands true today at this magazine. We will continue to speak out and provide scientists with a place to make their voices heard.
