Vermont And The Stimulus Package
–
Leahy Cites Vermont Investments
In
Senate-Passed Economic Recovery Package
WASHINGTON (Tuesday, Feb. 10) – The U.S. Senate Tuesday passed an
economic recovery package that includes investments throughout Vermont’s
economy. The bill now will be reconciled with a similar bill passed by
the House.
“Nobody believes this bill is perfect, and many believe it is not large
enough,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.). “But one thing is
certain: Vermont’s needs have been taken directly into account in
writing this plan. It includes investments that will make a timely
and constructive difference across our state. It will create and
save jobs in Vermont, improve our infrastructure, reduce the tax burden
on struggling Vermont families, and relieve Vermont’s state budget
deficit.”
The infrastructure and investment sections of the bill were written by
the Senate Appropriations Committee, where Leahy is the third
most-senior member. The Senate’s bill closely tracks Leahy’s priorities
for Vermont, including:
SCHOOL DISTRICTS: Vermont schools stand to gain more than $32 million in
education funding through the No Child Left Behind Act and special
education programs.
STATE EDUCATION AND PUBLIC SAFETY BUDGET RELIEF: The Governor and
Legislature would have up to $62 million to prevent cuts in education,
public safety and other government services.
ANTI-CRIME & LAW ENFORCEMENT: As chairman of the Judiciary Committee
Leahy led in putting together the bill’s provisions that would bring
nearly $10 million to Vermont’s law enforcement community.
MEDICAID SHORTFALLS: For Vermont’s Medicaid shortfalls, Vermont would
receive an estimated $250 million over two years.
TRANSPORTATION: Vermont would receive nearly $140 million for highways,
bridges and transit needs.
HOUSING: More than $11.5 billion nationally for housing programs that
could bring millions of dollars to Vermont for affordable housing,
homeless prevention and Section 8 rental assistance.
NUTRITION: Vermont would see a $28 million increase in food stamp
benefits and $800,000,000 in Food Stamp administration funds to ensure
that recipients are adequately served.
CREATING THE JOBS OF THE FUTURE: One of Leahy’s top priorities in the
bill, its broadband provisions include $7 billion for expanding
broadband access, half of that for rural areas. It also includes
$4 billion for Smart Grid electric lines that might fund a
ground-breaking initiative in Vermont.
The package also includes hundreds of billions of tax reductions for
working families and for businesses.
VERMONT AND THE SENATE’S STIMULUS PACKAGE
Broadband
Vermont still faces a deep digital divide in broadband deployment,
particularly in rural areas, due in large part to the failure of
broadband providers to offer services to rural areas and to the lack of
a strategic, national plan to make broadband access a universal service.
Though the federal government has begun making investments in broadband
expansion, economic opportunities in rural areas could be substantially
expanded by accelerating these broadband access programs. The
Senate stimulus bill provides a significant new investment in broadband
deployment -- $7 billion for the National Telecommunications and
Information Administration’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.
Small Business Assistance
Vermont businesses continue to struggle with tightening credit
conditions that keep them from retaining their employees or expanding
their businesses. Senator Leahy pushed for funding that will
encourage lending to small business and housing projects across Vermont.
As a result, the Senate stimulus bill contains $250 million to provide
capital to qualified community development financial institutions
(CDFIs) to invest in the development of underserved communities.
The following Vermont institutions are CDFIs that could benefit from the
increased funding: Vermont Community Loan Fund, Community Capital,
Opportunities Credit Union (Vermont Development Credit Union), Northern
Community Investment Corporation, and Neighborworks of Western Vermont
(Rutland West Neighborhood Housing Services, Inc.). The bill also
contains $730 million in SBA loans to stimulate lending to small
businesses.
Nutrition & Health
With the dramatic rise in both food prices and unemployment, the current
economic situation severely affects the food security of Vermont
families. With more than 10 percent of all households in Vermont
considered 'hunger insecure,' the nutrition funding included the Senate
stimulus bill would provide an effective and immediate economic boost,
while helping families put food on the table. This bill
strengthens the national nutrition safety net and target nutrition
assistance to families and communities struggling to make ends meet.
To attend to the current hunger situation in Vermont, Senator Leahy
pushed for an increase in funding for the Food Stamp program (now
officially called the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)).
The Senate bill provides $16.5 billion for Food Stamp benefits; equaling
a 12 percent increase in benefits for households, plus a one-time bonus
payment to families that would have an instant effect in Vermont.
The one-time bonus payment for an average Vermont Food Stamp household
is expected to be $197 and the one-time bonus payment for an average
Vermont senior SNAP recipient living alone would be $122. Also
included in the Senate package is $500 million for the Women, Infants,
and Children (WIC) program, which will prevent more than 625,000
low-income women, infants, and children from losing their WIC benefits.
Among Senator Leahy's other suggestions, the Senate stimulus bill also
contains $150 million funding for Food Banks nationwide, potentially
bringing $272,000 in funding to Vermont.
As the economic crisis deepens, families are struggling to meet the
staggering increases in health care costs. Long-term cost cutting
measures, such as the use of electronic medical records, can help
stimulate the health care economy and create much needed jobs.
Vermont has been a leader in advancing health information technology,
and this bill will help the state implement Vermont’s plans. One
of the largest drains on state budgets across the country is funding
Medicaid. This bill will make it easier for Vermont to maintain
and strengthen the state’s Medicaid program through a temporary,
across-the-board increase of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage
(FMAP). The Senate package includes approximately $250 million in
assistance to Vermont's Medicaid program, over two years.
Environment & Energy
As Senator Leahy requested, the Senate
stimulus bill would promote sustainable energy technologies and create
more ‘green jobs’ in Vermont for today and for tomorrow. The
Senate bill would provide more than $40 billion to the Department of
Energy for the development of clean, efficient American energy.
Vermont would also benefit from the inclusion of $4.5 billion for
electric grid modernization in the Senate bill, and $3.8 billion in
loans and grants for much needed water and waste disposal facilities in
rural areas. Also included are $1.3 billion for grants or loans
for those who make energy and green retrofit investments, and $400
million for rural businesses initiatives, including the development of
renewable energy. The Senate bill also includes $1.4 billion for
the Environmental Protection Agency’s nationwide environmental cleanup
programs, including Superfund.
Education
In tough economic times, schools in Vermont have faced many budget cuts
and students and families are having difficulty meeting the rising costs
of tuition. To address Vermont’s education needs, Leahy said the
Senate stimulus package includes a $400 per student increase in Pell
Grants and up to $32 million to Vermont for Title I and IDEA programs to
help disadvantaged youth and fund special education programs.
Law Enforcement
Crime typically rises during bad economic times, and Senator Leahy led
in drafting provisions in the stimulus package to support local and
state law enforcement agencies that are on the front lines in combating
crime. Leahy held Judiciary Committee hearings in Rutland and St.
Albans last year to seek solutions to drug crime in rural areas, and his
stimulus package provisions for law enforcement take special aim at
these rural needs. The Leahy provisions also would help crime
victims through the crime victim services providers that also have faced
drastic cuts from the Bush Administration, forcing many to curtail
services, lay off staff and even close their doors.
To address this situation, Senator Leahy pushed for increased funding
for state and local law enforcement and victims compensation and
services in the stimulus package. Good prevention and treatment
programs have been shown to reduce crime. At Senator Leahy’s
request, the Senate stimulus bill includes $3.5 billion to support state
and local law enforcement efforts, including $150 million for rural drug
enforcement, $300 million to combat domestic violence, $100 million to
support state victims’ compensation and assistance programs, and $1
billion to put new state and local law enforcement officers on the
streets.
Transportation
Vermont’s transportation infrastructure is aging and needs repair and in
some cases replacement. At Senator Leahy’s request, the Senate
stimulus bill would provide Vermont with a major boost in transportation
funding – more than $130 million -- for state and local officials to
make much needed improvements to our highways, bridges, rail lines,
transit systems, and airports. Specifically, the bill includes $27
billion for formula highway investments; $8.4 billion for formula
investments in public transportation; $5.5 billion for competitive
grants to state and local governments for surface transportation
investments; $1.1 billion for investments in intercity passenger rail
service, and $1.3 billion for investments in air transportation.
Housing
Though Vermont is reported to have one of the lowest foreclosure rates
in the country, more and more Vermonters are facing foreclosure and are
at risk of losing their homes. In addition, according to last
year’s housing and wages report prepared by the Vermont Housing
Awareness Campaign and the Vermont Housing Council, nearly two thirds of
Vermonters cannot afford to pay median rent or to purchase an average
home in the state of Vermont. That same report claimed that
Vermont has the highest rate of homelessness in New England.
Senator Leahy ensured that programs aimed at making homes more
affordable for Vermonters, providing shelter to the homeless and
addressing the foreclosure crisis were included in the Senate’s version
of the stimulus legislation.
Western Hemisphere Travel
Initiative
The bill includes $20
million to build new Department of State passport agencies to expand
access for American citizens to be issued passports promptly, rather
than by mail. Senator Leahy included the funds to build these
facilities throughout the country to generate jobs and to improve the
customer service provided by the State Department, one of many lessons
learned from the passport backlog crisis in 2007.
These funds are part of
an effort by Senator Leahy to prepare the federal government to
appropriately implement the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI)
as the deadline of June 1, 2009, looms. Senator Leahy intends to
encourage the State Department to build one of the passport agencies in
Vermont to facilitate trade and tourism in small communities that border
Canada.
In addition to $1
million appropriated in fiscal year 2008 for public outreach about WHTI,
Senator Leahy continues to ensure that the public is aware of WHTI
requirements, that neighboring countries know that communities in
Vermont and other states are open for tourism and business, and that
federal agencies are prepared to issue the required documents and border
stations are ready to facilitate border crossings.
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