Welch Supports Major Funding Legislation, Including Ten Welch Community Projects and Aid to Ukraine

Statement

Last night, Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT) supported House passage of the bipartisan 2022 Omnibus Appropriations bill, which will fund all aspects of the federal government for the remainder of the fiscal year. Included in the legislation is $10.3 million in funding for ten community projects that Rep. Welch championed in the House, support for programs providing critical services to Vermonters, including the Low Income Heating and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), and humanitarian and military aid to Ukraine.

The community projects included in the bill address a wide array of challenges throughout Vermont, including job creation and retention, historic preservation, access to higher education, opiate use disorder, and food insecurity. This legislation also provides additional funding for long-standing priorities for Rep. Welch, including a $50 million funding increase for LIHEAP, $250 million for Brand USA to help Vermont's travel and tourism industry, and an additional $100 million for substance use treatment.

The bill also includes $13.6 billion in funding for critical military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine. These funds will give Ukraine resources to help beat back Putin's war machine. This funding includes $1.4 billion to support refugees and $3.03 billion for European Command operations, personnel deployment, and intelligence.

"This wide ranging legislation is critical to provide the resources necessary to address issues at home and abroad. I am thrilled with the inclusion of community funding projects that Senator Leahy, Senator Sanders and I led, which will be an important boost for our cities and towns," said Rep. Welch. "Vermonters step up for each other and give back to their communities by finding creative solutions to address the mutual problems we face. This bill will fund important community projects and federal programs that will make Vermont stronger. I look forward to seeing the impact of these projects and additional funds across Vermont. And I'm grateful for Senator Leahy's incredible leadership as we worked to get Vermonters the resources they need."

With the strong leadership of Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, this major appropriations bill is expected to pass the Senate in the coming days and be signed into law by President Biden.

Fairbanks Museum, St. Johnsbury

$ 2,456,176

The Fairbanks Museum is constructing Vermont's demonstration mass timber building which will provide access to the historic building, create space for STEM-based exhibits, and facilitate co-location with the Community College of VT's St. Johnsbury site. The Science Annex includes the construction of a 6,153 square foot addition onto its NRHP-listed 1891 building and renovation of 1,584 square feet in the existing building.

Student Support Services (SSS) program, NVU-Lyndon TRIO

$ 250,000

Public post-secondary education is an essential public service. NVU-Lyndon's mission is to foster the intellectual, creative, and personal growth of every student in a community committed to diversity and inclusion. The institution provides innovative professional and liberal arts educational experiences that prepare students to be critical thinkers and engaged global citizens. Graduates of NVU-Lyndon, many of whom come from low-income backgrounds, take on critical roles in their communities as business owners, educators, community and legislative leaders, social services providers, and work in key Vermont industries such as hospitality, tourism, and manufacturing. Increasing opportunities for these students to persist and succeed offers a public good, lowering use of public assistance, rates of incarceration, and other high cost public services.

CCPSA Regional Dispatch

$ 750,000

This project would fund the technology capital costs to get the regional dispatch center started up. A regional dispatch center/911 call center combined in one location can reduce response time by an average of 71 seconds per call by eliminating the call transfer required when 911 calls go first to the 911 Call Center, then relayed to a local dispatch. This means faster response by police, fire, and emergency medical staff to residents and businesses in need. Other benefits of a regional public safety dispatch service include improvement of mutual aid between towns, an increased number of dispatchers on duty, and dedicated oversight of services.

Brownfield Site, St. Albans

$ 2,000,000

The Fonda/Solo site was a significant regional employer for decades, manufacturing various paper products. The use of the site declined in the 2000s, and it was eventually closed. Since then, the City of St. Albans and regional/State/federal partners have made significant investments in purchasing the site and remediating the environmental contamination so that the property may someday contribute once again to our local and regional economy. Located within an Opportunity Zone, the Fonda site is the last large commercial parcel (5 acres) available within the City limits. It has taken a decade of work to get the Fonda site ready for redevelopment. The City's plan for Fonda is to finish one last, significant round of site remediation and preparation, which will allow for three new commercial buildings; hopefully one being the new home for the U.S. Immigration Service Center that recently had to be closed due to water damage, amounting to a loss of nearly 1,000 jobs.

Sheldon Museum, Middlebury

$ 85,000

Historic preservation and energy upgrades to iconic and historic 1829 Judd-Harris House of the Henry Sheldon Museum, chartered by the Vermont legislature in 1882. The Museum serves as a leading local art, history, and cultural center. Project components include (1) restoration of its period 28 window sashes and 1 fan light located throughout the exterior of the three-floor building and (2) replacement of two failing oil furnaces with a new energy efficient natural gas boiler with air handlers.

Derby Park, Derby

$ 517,750

Build a New Town Park on land purchased in 2018. The current Tennis/Pickleball/Basketball courts are in need of a total rebuild. They have been patched and patched again many times over and are beyond their useful life, so they will be relocating the 3 tennis/pickleball and 1 basketball courts onto the adjacent park land, adding lighting for night play and converting a portion of the former courts into additional parking. The park will include approximately ¾ mile of walking paths, a 10 station fitness trail system along the perimeter of the path, benches, tables, landscaping consisting of trees, shrubs and flowers, electricity & water to the site, and associated site work.

Farmers Center, Rutland

$ 1,688,000.00

VFFC has identified two critical challenges inhibiting SW VT farmers and value-added entrepreneurs from starting and growing profitable businesses: Producers need improved access to critical infrastructure, equipment, and coordinated technical resources; and Buyers interested need producers to reach a scale that fulfills demand and sustains supply well past growing seasons. Through assessments, planning, and a variety of pilot initiatives, VFFC has used a USDA planning grant and thousands of volunteer hours to develop full-scale implementation plans that address each challenge. The plans outline the costs, design, and equipment related to two critical, climate-controlled storage and food processing facilities: an aggregated packing center and a value-added commercial kitchen with multiple stations. The plans detail a technical assistance process that draws from different service providers to build programs to assist food-related businesses in maximizing the use of such facilities.

East Calais Store

$ 200,000

The East Calais Community Trust seeks funding to restore the building that contains the East Calais general store and three apartments affordable to low-income households. ECCT will renovate the entire building to improve and retain the affordable housing resource, and reopen the store under a new operator.

Wheels and Waves -- Health/ Opiate Use Disorder Treatment / Telehealth

$ 1,150,000

400 Vermonters in 8 opiate treatment programs will be supplied with secure medication dispensing wheels and a smart phone app, enabling them to submit a video of themselves taking methadone or buprenorphine instead of traveling six days/week to the hub for observed dosing.

Tri-Park Mobile Home

$ 1,277,000

Tri-Park Cooperative Housing Corporation is VT's largest resident-owned mobile home cooperative comprising more than 300 homes owned and occupied by 800 low and moderate income residents. Tri-Park's residents, infrastructure and finances were severely impacted by Tropical Storm Irene in 2011 and remain at risk. There are currently 19 homes in the floodway and 19 more in the floodplain. This vulnerable population, many elderly and disabled, live in direct threat of future flooding. On Tri-Park's behalf, VHCB seeks funding to allow implementation of the first step of a 2020 Master Plan to move homes out of harm's way. New sites within Mountain Home Park will be created to allow homes to be relocated. Tri-Park proposes to move an existing structure and construct 16 mobile homes sites and associated infrastructure. An additional 18 scattered site infill sites will be develop in a future phases as the full Master Plan is implemented.

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