Funding secured by Sen. Leahy and Rep. Welch will support national model for sustainable food delivery and education

Rep. Peter Welch on Monday announced a $143,000 federal grant for Fletcher Allen Health Care's Center for Nutrition and Healthy Food Systems.

The federal funding, which was secured by Welch and Sen. Patrick Leahy, will support the integration of local food into patient care and cafeterias at the Burlington hospital. This program will foster partnerships between local farmers and health care institutions throughout Vermont in an effort to provide patients with more nutritious food choices while supporting agriculture in the state.

Bill would give Vermont greater resources to perform oversight of federal recovery funds

A bill sponsored by Rep. Peter Welch that would provide state and local governments with greater resources to prevent waste, fraud and abuse of federal stimulus dollars was approved Wednesday afternoon by the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.

The Enhanced Oversight of State and Local Economic Recovery Act, H.R. 2182, ensures that officials responsible for monitoring and accounting for the $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act have the tools they need to perform their oversight responsibilities efficiently. The bill allows state and local governments to set aside a portion of allocated stimulus funds for auditing, contracting and grant planning and management.

Rep. Peter Welch supported and the House passed the Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights, of which he is a cosponsor, Thursday afternoon. The vote was 357 to 70.

The bill provides some basic fairness to credit cardholders long resisted by card issuers by applying common sense regulations that would ban most retroactive interest rate hikes on existing balances, double-cycle billing and due date gimmicks. It protects cardholders from arbitrary interest rate increases, empowers them to set limits on their credit and requires card companies to fairly credit and allocate payments.

Reps. Welch, Hinchey and Tierney unveil amendment to Credit Cardholders' Bill of Rights at Tuesday press conference

Rep. Peter Welch announced Tuesday he will seek an amendment to the Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights that would cap credit card interest rates at 18 percent.

Welch announced the amendment at a Capitol Hill press conference Tuesday morning alongside two cosponsors, Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) and Rep. John Tierney (D-MA). The Credit Cardholder's Bill of Rights is expected to be voted on in the House of Representatives on Thursday.