After years in committee limbo, a statewide ethics code is finally adopted in Vermont; VTDigger, May 4, 2022

Sarah Mearhoff , VTDigger; After years in committee limbo, a statewide ethics code is finally adopted in Vermont

"Gov. Phil Scott signed into law Vermont’s first-ever statewide code of ethics for public officials on Tuesday, putting to rest a yearslong debate in the Statehouse and bringing Vermont in line with a majority of other states.

S.171 establishes a baseline code of ethics for public officials in the legislative, executive and judiciary branches of state government. It sets boundaries around conflicts of interest, preferential treatment, gifts, outside employment, the use of state employment for personal gain and more. It also protects whistleblowers from retaliation.

Upon signing the bill, Scott said in a statement Tuesday that it “takes a positive step towards ensuring public trust in their elected officials.”"

Vermont is one of five states without a statutory code of ethics. A bill in the Senate seeks to change that; Vermont Public Radio (VPR), March 8, 2022

Peter Hirschfeld, Vermont Public Radio (VPR); Vermont is one of five states without a statutory code of ethics. A bill in the Senate seeks to change that

"Last month, a federal judge unsealed documents that showed former Gov. Peter Shumlin had accepted gifts and favors from the man who perpetrated the massive EB-5 fraud in the Northeast Kingdom.

Those documents, first covered by VTDigger, reveal that Shumlin’s aides flagged the favors — including free stays in a luxury New York City condominium — as a potential “problem.”

Shumlin’s general counsel, however, advised they needn’t be concerned from a legal perspective at least, because, according to an FBI summary of those conversations, “the state of Vermont does not have a statute regarding gifts, or a requirement for such disclosures.”

Vermont is one of only five states in the country without a statutory code of ethics."