Governor: Vaccine news clears way to meet May 1 deadline

An Elm Street view of Woodstock Village. (Gareth Henderson Photo)

Continued good news on vaccine supply has cleared the way for Vermont to meet the eligibility goal set out by President Joe Biden, according to Gov. Phil Scott.

In his televised address last week, Biden directed states to make all adults eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine by May 1, and Scott was optimistic about meeting that goal, given sufficient supply. In a call on Tuesday, White House officials assured governors of increasing supply in coming weeks, including for the important single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine. 

Vermont can expect a total of 800 additional doses next week between all vaccines, and further increases in April, Scott told the media Tuesday. That includes receiving 4,000 to 5,000 Johnson & Johnson doses each week by late April. 

With that update, the state plans to open vaccine appointments for another age group this week, and Scott said Vermont might even exceed the president’s goal.

“This is the assurance we've been waiting for, and we’ll use this information to update our projections, and on Friday, we’ll announce when our next age band, 60+, will open,” he said. The news will also allow the state to fully outline its plan for the remaining age bands. 

More than 1 in 4 adult Vermonters have received at least their first dose of COVID-19 vaccine, and the numbers are going in the right direction, according to Human Services Secretary Mike Smith.

“We’re seeing a slow but steady increase in vaccine manufacturing and a decrease in deaths from the virus,” Smith said at the press briefing. “This is remarkable and really speaks to how we have been able to really stick together and move toward overcoming the most devastating health crisis in more than 100 years.” 

As of Tuesday, 152,800 Vermonters had been vaccinated against COVID, and 87,200 of those have received both doses. 

Already filed your taxes? You haven’t missed a key exclusion

If you’re a Vermonter who already filed their 2020 taxes, your state wants you to consider whether you might qualify for an important new exclusion for jobless aid — but don’t do anything just yet.

The convergence of tax season and the passage of the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill have led to several key directives, and the latest one was at Tuesday’s state press briefing, referencing those who filed their 2020 taxes before the bill became law last Thursday. 

The relief package excludes from taxation the first $10,200 of unemployment aid for taxpayers who had less than $150,000 in adjusted gross income in 2020. That exclusion is per-person, meaning the amount goes up to $20,400 for a married couple, provided they both individually received at least $10,200 in jobless benefits.

“This is an unprecedented, retroactive exclusion, and it’s a very valuable one,” said Susanne Young, Vermont’s secretary of administration.

Young said people who already filed their taxes should not file an amended return, but need to wait for upcoming guidance from the IRS about how to claim this exclusion. People can keep track of updates at irs.gov. 

For this exemption to follow through to Vermont, the state Legislature must approve a corresponding exemption in the Vermont tax code. That effort is underway. 

During her remarks, Young also noted the IRS is using the most recently processed tax returns to determine eligibility for the much-anticipated $1,400 stimulus checks in the relief bill. 

“For those who haven’t yet filed their 2020 returns, the IRS will use the 2019 return to determine payments,” Young said.

The $1,400 direct payments are going to each taxpayer earning less than $75,000 per year; the limit is less than $160,000 for married couples. Payments of $1,400 will be received for each dependent in the household as well.

Young also outlined other assistance around unemployment. The relief bill continues the federal enhanced unemployment aid of $300 per week to Sept. 6. It also extends pandemic emergency unemployment compensation to that same date, while increasing the total number of weeks for benefits from 24 to 53. 

The bill also provides a 100% subsidy of COBRA payments from April 21 to Sept. 30 for people who lost their jobs because of the pandemic and are eligible for COBRA. 

— Gareth Henderson

Vt. recalls thousands of incorrect 1099-G tax forms

The state of Vermont is recalling tens of thousands of incorrect 1099-G tax forms issued to those who received unemployment benefits in 2020.

Due to a corrupted file, information from the Vermont Department of Labor's main frame resulted in errors in multiple 1099-G forms recently printed and mailed, according to Labor Commissioner Michael Harrington. Some included a name and social security number different from the recipient's. Out of the 80,000 forms mailed so far, about 55,000 were corrupted.

At Tuesday's press conference, Harrington explained that individuals began receiving 1099-G documents that either had the wrong name and address on the front of the envelope, or once opened, had the incorrect name and social security number on the document inside. The state is asking recipients to return all incorrect forms, and identity protection services are being offered for anyone whose information was compromised. Harrington also said the state is examining quality control measures for the short-term and long-term, including measures to ensure that forms being returned are reissued correctly.

"We're neck-deep in trying to move through this process as quickly as we can to get information to claimants and impacted individuals in an expedited manner," he said. According to Harrington, the labor department is sending out a follow-up communication which includes a pre-stamped envelope for returning incorrect forms.

This was the beginning of a process to issue a whopping 180,000 1099-G forms — an enormous increase due to the number of people who received unemployment benefits last year during the pandemic. On Tuesday, Harrington explained several factors add potential for error, including the fact that, due to the age of the main frame, many manual steps have to be taken during different processes. Additionally, benefits were released from multiple programs in 2020, and those programs reside on multiple computer systems.

The notification and outreach process about the incorrect forms should take place over the next two weeks, Harrington added.

— Gareth Henderson