Senate budget writers have advanced their draft of Vermont’s $8.5 billion budget, which would inject tens of millions of new money into child care, health care and the human services — and end, as of July 1, a pandemic-era motel housing program that thousands currently rely on for shelter.

The bill, H.494, as unanimously amended by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Friday afternoon, would direct significant sums to housing, including $50 million to the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, a fifth of which would be dedicated to building out shelter space for unhoused Vermonters. There’s also $10 million in one-time money for the Vermont Housing Improvement Program, which gives landlords grants to get vacant and derelict units back online.

A proposal to transform part of the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital into an adult forensic facility was approved by the Senate last month and is now being discussed in the House.

The plan, addressed in S.89, would remove two units totaling nine beds from the acute psychiatric hospital in Berlin to create a secure residential treatment facility starting in 2024. That part of the building would be reserved for people who have been charged with the most serious crimes, but who either have been deemed incompetent to stand trial or were found not guilty by reason of insanity.

Administration officials told the House health care and judiciary committees this week and last that repurposing part of the psychiatric hospital is needed because there is currently no place where people in that small group can legally and safely stay.

As a federal legal battle threatens to revoke the decades-old approval of a widely used abortion medication, Vermont lawmakers are making last-minute amendments to this year’s major abortion legislation to protect access to the pill within the state.

On Wednesday, legislators in both the House and Senate tacked on amendments to S.37 and H.89 — two bills known colloquially as abortion “shield” bills — to add protections to the medication mifepristone, even if its Food and Drug Administration approval is removed or restricted as a result of ongoing litigation.

The Senate gave final approval to H.89 in a voice vote Wednesday after advancing it by a 26-4 vote Tuesday.

Spring is in full swing in our region, and you might be excited to get outside with your four-legged friend, but warm weather also brings out ticks.

Health officials are warning you to take extra precautions when outdoors to keep every member of your family safe.

"We've seen on the Vermont Department of Health's website that the numbers are already starting to increase," said Jessie Leyse, an infectious disease doctor at the Central Vermont Medical Center.

With warmer temps getting many of us outside, ticks are back too, especially the black-legged deer ticks, which can carry illnesses like Lyme disease.