New Laws, 2019: Vermont Pays People $10K To Move There, Internet Taxes, Pet Protection, More

[appalachiablue]

Source: NBC News

WASHINGTON- The new year brings a host of state laws that take effect Tuesday- including Vermont paying people to move there.

The state will give people up to $10,000 over two years for those employed by out-of-state companies who are willing to work remotely from Vermont in a home office or cooperative work space. "We have a demographic problem in the state. We need more people," said Governor Phil Scott in supporting the measure.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, Vermont has the nation's third-highest median age, 42.7 years, and the state's population of just over 600,000 (in 2017) is flat or slightly shrinking, the Associated Press reported.

Anyone interested should hurry, however, because the money for the program is limited and will be awarded on a first-come, first served basis. Lawmakers have set aside $500,000 for the program.

Elsewhere, Connecticut and Hawaii are making it illegal for employers to ask job applicants about their pay history. That brings to 10 the number of states with similar bans, intended to stop the cycle of pay discrimination against women and minorities.


Read more: http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/new-laws-2019-vermont-pays-people-dollar10k-to-move-there-internet-taxes-pet-protection-more/ar-BBRE29Q?li=BBnbcA1&ocid=HPCOMMDHP15

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[sandensea]

1. The Vermont moving incentive reminds me of Chevy Chase's Funny Farm

The good citizens of Redbud, you'll recall, were offered $50 each - plus $15,000 to the town itself - if they'd reenact Norman Rockwell-like scenes to help lure prospective buyers.

His best comedy, I still think.

[appalachiablue]

5. Filmed in VT 1988, sounds funny, don't know how I missed it.

Chevy Chase and Madolyn Smith are a married couple who decide to move to a small New England town so that he can write his novel and they can breathe the fresh country air and mow their own lawn. Conditions are not perfect. The birds sing too loudly. The mailman speeds by in a cloud of dust, hurling letters from the window of his pickup. There are snakes in the lake and a corpse buried in the garden, and it costs 20 cents to make a call from the pay phone in the kitchen.

And the townspeople, they discover, are drawn more from Stephen King than Norman Rockwell.
By wintertime, Chase is withdrawn and bitter, drinking heavily and sleeping past noon, while his wife has sold a children's novel about a city squirrel who moves to the country and has the same name as her husband. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/funny-farm-1988

[csziggy]

30. The description left out the running joke

[appalachiablue]

31. Chevy's comedy I liked, saw plenty of his movies but

never remember this one, even on cable. Better late than never. In the late 80s with relatives in NY I visited VT first time.

By mid- 80s movies and media began popularizing the notion of young professionals leaving big cities for healthier country life, and food ('The Silver Palate') a la Diane Keaton in 'Baby Boom,' (1987) also set in VT.

[Historic NY]

2. LOL I could do it....

I was gone from my house and town for more than 60 days this past yr. With my laptop with me no one knew. The lights were on the mail and papers picked up, lawn mowed and the fish were fed daily. My office phone can ring to my cell. I can hurry home since I'm in NY.

[TexasBushwhacker]

3. Glad to hear the restriction on asking about pay history

A job should pay what it pays. Asking for salary history is just a way for employers to low ball new hires.

[cstanleytech]

4. While I certainly agree with the law myself I do wonder if its in any danger of a challenge on

first amendment rights as it is restricting the speech of the company looking to hire someone.

[X_Digger]

7. How about asking women if they are or are planning to get pregnant?

The Federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibits asking and discriminating based on the same.

Restrictions on speech are not automatically unconstitutional.

[LanternWaste]

34. What then would be usable argument this is a specific restriction of speech?

[appalachiablue]

6. +1

[KY_EnviroGuy]

8. Much better than paying corporations to move there!

If good people are there, the companies will come in time.......

Just look at the FoxCONn flim-flam in Wisconsin. That may be the largest corporate con job America's ever seen....

[MineralMan]

9. So, they only need 50 households to move there?

Really? Seems silly to me. I wouldn't move across town for $10,000. Just the hassle of moving is worth more than that.

Vermont's pretty, for sure, but no, thanks.

[Honeycombe8]

12. It must have a low population for 50 workers to make a difference.

I'd consider it, since I'll be moving, anyway. But I'm not what they're looking for. They want a young work force to lure businesses there.

Vermont is beautiful. Cold, but beautiful. Expensive. But beautiful.

[MineralMan]

13. Well, not all of Vermont is expensive.

If I were a young person, I could live there just fine. There are plenty of homes available at attractively low prices that would benefit from some sweat equity put into them.

Cold, but not as cold as Minnesota, where I now live. Beautiful, but so is Minnesota. California, where I lived most of my life has pleasant weather, but has become so costly as a place to live that I cannot return there.

I'm not really a place person, anyhow. Wherever I live can be home for me. Wherever I live, there I am, still the same person.

[Honeycombe8]

16. Aren't you affected by the kind of people that are in the area?

In a place where there's no one like you, or almost no one? People of a different ilk, so to speak. No? I am. Very much so. I live in semi-rural deep south in Trumperville. The local community forum got downright depressing, with all the hostile Trumper talk. Very unpleasant. I'm here for relatives. Unfortunately, my father and stepmother and half brother are Trumpers, too.

It's like being in the movie The Body Snatchers. I walk around wondering if everyone around me is one of "them," and if any are normal like me. Is anyone going to realize I voted for Obama and started squealing and pointing at me, like in the movie?

[MineralMan]

19. I would never move to a red state.

Not to a red area, either.

[Honeycombe8]

20. I will move back to a sane area in the near future, if I can sell my house.

I think a recession is coming, though.

[oberliner]

25. It wouldn't bother you to live in a state that was over 95 percent white people?

[MineralMan]

28. I don't know. I've never lived in such a state.

In any case, I'm not moving to Vermont anyhow.

[moriah]

32. Given the unfortunate "cultural segregation" in many other states....

... Such as having one friendly town and then the two nearest are known for having "sunset" histories....

One can live where they rarely ever see a black person at all even in a state with a high African-American population. Except instead of the white folks living in their own little world talking horribly about how high-crime the "city' is, and the praying for your safety if you move to the capital, like it is here...

Well, I don't know what it does to "white fear", but I'm hopeful it's less racist than those parts of my own home state which are 95% white.

[oberliner]

33. That's a good point

There is quite a lot of segregation in states that are ostensibly diverse.

[paleotn]

15. Depends on where you move to...

Burlington, yes, by all means expensive. The rest is affordable, though not as affordable as parts of the midwest or south. The problem is finding work, unless you bring your work with you. Thus the $10K offer.

[karynnj]

27. We retired to Vermont

Why? It is a beautiful place, very pleasant, less stress than NJ. healthy outdoor activities etc.

Here, they are trying to attract people whose companies ok remote work. Many people with computer based jobs can work from home ... wherever home is. The idea is that the offer may pull in some young people with good jobs into Vermont, which has an aging population.

[IronLionZion]

10. The pay history law helps those of us who took low level jobs during the recession

and applied for better jobs when the economy got better. I know I'm not the only one who did that.

[Honeycombe8]

11. Sounds like a good deal. They don't want me, though.

I'm retired. I'd consider moving there and taking my retirement accounts with me. But they want young people. Sounds like they need a work force to lure businesses there.

[handmade34]

14. I would welcome you

.... encouraging people to move here is about tax base... not too bad a place to live...

[Honeycombe8]

17. Thanks, handmade34!

Maybe I'll sell everything, load up my Honda and head north! But I better trade my car in for a Subaru.

[llmart]

22. I have always thought I'd like to live in Vermont.

Hey, I live in Michigan now and if it weren't for having a grandbaby nearby, I'd consider moving there to try it out. I've lived in other states and have always considered it an adventure to live in a different place.

However, I would never live in a red state again.

[oberliner]

23. It is the least diverse state in the US

Or close to it.

[LanternWaste]

35. It also holds five world records

Or close to it.

[oberliner]

36. Which five?

[handmade34]

29. Happy New Year...

Ahhh, Michigan... I grew up there... my Dad's roots are Vermont but he ended up in Michigan (VFW Home in Eaton Rapids) after my grandfather died here ... my siblings and a daughter still live there (Okemos/Lansing area)

[oberliner]

18. This is a Republican initiative incidentally

“We hope it will help recruit workers to our state and serve as a solid building block in developing solutions to the demographic challenges we face,” Republican Gov. Phil Scott said in a statement.

[sl8]

37. How so?

Both of the bill's sponsors, Senators Lyons and Balint, are Democrats. The bill passed the Senate unanimously.

https://legislature.vermont.gov/bill/status/2018/S.94?

[oberliner]

38. You're right

It had unanimous bipartisan support - I stand corrected.

[mahina]

21. I could live there at the end of Spring, all Summer and most of Fall.

Winter is right out. Sadly.

[oberliner]

24. Wouldn't the lack of diversity be an issue?

[mahina]

26. I have no idea.

If they’re racists then, yeah.

It would be strange.

Aren’t people mostly the same everywhere

My friends who moved to North Carolina can’t handle it. They wish they could move home but they can’t.