As a small business owner, I find it both alarming and concerning our Legislature is pulling a “King George” and randomly passing taxes to fill its coffers. I understand the purpose of taxing business and personal revenues, but there is a point where logic disappears and political interests take over. I believe the latest effort by our state’s elected officials to levy a whopping 120 percent tax on Vermont Yankee crosses that line.

Vermont Yankee already pays millions in taxes – money that funds everything from our state’s clean energy initiatives to education. It is a vital part of Windham County’s economic structure and a major contributor to our state’s general fund. But there comes a time when enough is enough.

Vermont will ultimately suffer if it sets this kind of precedent: Our larger businesses and industries will fear being targeted by the state government and consider moving their operations to New Hampshire or Massachusetts. We need to balance our pursuit of renewable energy with existing low-cost base-load power we receive from Vermont Yankee. The expensive alternatives minus Yankee will only hamper Vermont’s ability to attract new companies to set up shop here.

We cannot afford any more blows to our already struggling economy; it’s time to draw the line in the sand and say “enough is enough.”

VTDigger

Recently, there were three, somewhat related news articles that appeared in our area’s newspapers.

The Manchester Journal’s piece was fairly long and had to do with the plethora of consignment stores which recently opened in Manchester, the former retail outlet mecca of New England. According to the article, five clothing and furniture consignment shops have opened for business since the fall of 2010. Prior to 2010 there were no such stores.

Twenty miles south of Manchester, the Bennington Banner provided front-page coverage to an event that took place in Bennington on April 2. The event was the celebration of the first anniversary of the Kitchen Cupboard Food Pantry. The day’s event also celebrated the third anniversary of the Bennington Free Clinic as well as the Food & Fuel Fund operation (the latter in existence for 40 years). Gov. Peter Shumlin was the keynote speaker at the celebration.

About a week later, the Banner provided extensive coverage to the Vermont Council on Rural Development community forum that was held in Bennington. The nonpartisan organization has had several other forums in Bennington. Representatives from VCORD were there to assist the town on how to redefine itself by creating a downtown destination, town green, better communications, addressing poverty and dental care as well as some recreational enhancements.

What was so revealing about the Kitchen Cupboard is that in 2011 it distributed 200,000 pounds of food in its first year of operation. And not to be overshadowed, the Bennington Free Clinic, in 2011, administered to the needs of over 1,000 families according to a report in the April 2012 Battenkill Business Journal.

Additionally noteworthy about the reported news events was they reflect a significant change in the economic status of the north and south shires of Bennington County. And as so often happens with change, it comes about subtly and stealthy — nevertheless, it comes. What does it all mean?

Five years ago Manchester was a shopkeeper’s delight. Store vacancies were for the most part non-existent. Store sales were the envy of the retail world, topping out at over $1,000 per square foot or more. Many store rents were in excess of $30 per square foot assuming you could find an available location to sell your wares.

Manchester, the former gold standard of the retail outlet world, is having to deal with a major loss in quality stores. Countless stores along Route 7 and Route 11/30 are empty. Gone are the national/international name brand stores — Bose, PacSun, 9West, Garnet Hill, Burberry and others. To offset the exodus of name brand stores are the consignment establishments, attempting to fill the void.

The arrival in town (and soon to come to Manchester) of the well-intended organization, Vermont Council on Rural Development, is not needed. For over 250 years these towns have done pretty well for themselves and their citizens and institutions. Bennington has a half dozen well-focused development organizations in addition to its schools, recreation committee, nonprofit organizations and Chamber of Commerce — that can do so much for the town(s). So why bring in a consulting organization — no matter how well intended? Whatever they have to say or do has been delivered by other consultants in years’ past.

In June 2004, a county-wide forum was held at the Equinox Hotel. It was sponsored by the Vermont Department of Economic Development. The forum created the concept of the “Circle of Prosperity.”

The Circle of Prosperity was defined as follow:

“A Clean Environment, Good Schools, Access to Higher Education, Housing and High Quality of Life, Will attract a Talented Workforce, Diverse Industrial Base and High-Paying Jobs, And Increase Regional Income and Opportunity and Public Revenues.”

In 2004 we heard what had to be done and outside consultants will not get the job accomplished — let us pull together and do what needs to be done to close the “Circle of Prosperity.” Therefore, next year, the governor will come and celebrate the cutting of a ribbon of a manufacturing facility, an office complex or a retail establishment — and not come solely because of the distribution of 100 tons of food.

VTDigger

Southern Vermont leads the state in one specific and challenging metric: its population is declining faster and aging more rapidly than the rest of the state. There is good evidence that those trends will extend to the rest of Vermont in the next few years. While employment has grown over the past 30 years, growth has already slowed and is highly concentrated in Chittenden County. The rest of the state has seen at best level and more commonly declining employment.

Beneath these statistical perspectives is the real business cost: companies are having a hard time hiring and retaining early to mid-career professionals — engineers, medical professionals, finance, marketing, sales, etc. The critical skills that drive growth in a company are hard to find. This condition puts a hard cap on growth for our businesses and severely impacts our ability to attract or grow new companies.

Companies need a few key resources to grow: sound infrastructure, available capital, positive business environment (government policies and practices), and a qualified labor force. In Vermont challenges in the first three areas are known, but the third area has remained unexamined. In many cases it is one or two people per company who can make the difference between real success and just getting by — a marketing person knowledgeable in a specific industry segment, for instance, might be just what is needed to penetrate a market more successfully.

There has been a good deal of attention paid to a corner of this issue as the administration and Legislature have sought to address the perceived drain of college graduates. Parents, of course, feel this situation sharply as their children go off to college, whether in Vermont or elsewhere, then seek jobs outside of Vermont. While this is dramatic and highly noticeable because these are our children, this phenomenon is not new. The American Guide Series volume “Vermont,” published in 1937, noted that rural youth had been moving to urban employment since 1840. Vermont’s own children may or may not be the workers companies need in order to grow.

Attracting and retaining qualified professionals is affected by a number of factors: willingness to relocate to Vermont, availability of appropriate housing, family status, spouse or partner’s employment needs, etc. Lining up all of that for one job is really difficult. More than one company has reported going through all the professional interviews and qualifying steps only to run afoul of either a lack of housing or a spouse’s unwillingness to uproot and move here.
Attracting and retaining sufficient human capital is crucial to Vermont’s sustainability. While we need to explore developing all indigenous human resources, activating the senior worker and readying the marginal worker, we need to invest directly and strongly in attracting new and talented population to Vermont. This facet of the issue has been the responsibility of individual companies as they do their own recruiting.

Expecting an individual company, particularly a small one with limited HR capability, to support a broad recruiting drive to fill a critical position is asking too much.

Rather than expecting each business with a human resource need to build its own market approach to address a specific skill then encountering a hard stop at the point of moving to Vermont perhaps we could organize a way to attract people interested in Vermont then select the relevant professional skills.

By using today’s highly effective and efficient social networking tools to build and maintain communities of interest, coupled with skilled market targeting to approach the right demographics, skill sets, coupled with the fact that even at full bore the Vermont economy does not need millions of people, rather it needs tens or hundreds in the right skills. The opportunity is to take a long-term approach to building relationships and cultivating loyalty to Vermont and its economic community.

VTDigger

Contact
Shawn Shouldice
Phone: 802-371-7923

Montpelier (April 6, 2012) – Campaign for Vermont Founding Partner Marc Sherman of Hyde Park, along with Partners William Sayre of Bristol and Sean Walsh of Fairfield joined other Vermont business leaders this week in expressing their concerns about Vermont’s economic future, before a joint legislative hearing of the Senate Economic Development and House Commerce committees. Founding Partner and State Representative Heidi Scheuermann of Stowe is a member of the House Commerce Committee.

More than 100 individuals representing businesses from across Vermont participated in “Employer Day” sponsored by the Vermont Coalition of Employment and Prosperity in Montpelier on Wednesday, April 4, 2012.

Testifying before the joint committee hearing, Marc Sherman, owner of Stowe Mercantile, expressed concerns about the cost and choices being proposed in Vermont’s Health Care Exchange.

William Sayre, President of Duncan Hermanson Corporation, stated that Vermont’s tax burden has become one of the highest in the nation relative to income, and that our property tax structure has now become an additional income tax.

Sean Walsh, General Manager of PBM Nutritionals, painted a picture of Vermont businesses trying to compete regionally, nationally and internationally if costs such as energy and affordability for Vermont’s workforce can’t be controlled. Mr. Walsh pointed out that Vermont may have one of the lowest electrical costs in New England, but that his cost per kilowatt hour was already double that of the company’s Idaho operation. One recommendation he had to help offset the loss of workers to an aging population, and the exodus of younger workers from Vermont, was to lower taxes, thereby bringing additional taxpayers into the state. He ended his comments by noting that passing the renewable energy bill won’t make Vermont more beautiful, but will certainly make it more unaffordable.

Notably, during the hearing Win Smith, CEO of Sugarbush Resort voiced his agreement with Mr. Walsh saying that the ski area had increased revenues by cutting season ticket rates for customers between the ages of 19-29. The policy decision had been criticized by some arguing the company would lose too much money; but the opposite occurred because they broadened their customer base.

VTDigger

Contact
Stephen Marshall
Phone: 802-861-2316

On March 3, 2012 at 12:00 noon, in the Community Room of Burlington’s Fletcher Free Library, join three area experts on local economies to learn how two legislative initiatives, under consideration this year in the Vermont State Legislature, could dramatically improve local economies in Vermont, relieve tax pressure, and help reduce budget pressures.

Facilitated by Jim Hogue, John Ford, and Gwendolyn Hallsmith, participants will learn about and discuss the history of our money system and the alternatives to our own system, how the current system undermines human rights with respect to money and finance, the proposed creation of a Vermont State Bank,the Genuine Progress Indicator (GPI) being discussed in the Vermont Legislature, complementary monetary systems, and other concrete strategies communities can use to tap local talent and energy, and help jump start their local economies.

Jim Hogue is a local writer, author, actor and radio show host. John Ford is the founder of Vermont Currency Commons and author. And Gwendolyn Hallsmith is the founder of Global Community Initiatives, and the author of a new book entitled Creating Wealth: Growing Local Economies with Local Currencies.

Participants will engage in role playing, view a short DVD, engage in discussion and breakout groups.

Light snacks will be served.

Topics include:

Life before the banks, 1000-1700 AD, mutual credit, Public Credit Money beginning with the Tally sticks in the 11th century on the English Commons, Magna Carta, the Forest Charter, Lex Rex, and contemporary examples in Argentina in the 1990′s and California in 2009. Debt based currency systems (USD), the systematic destruction of the common-wealth; the connection between political rights of self-determination, full employment and a liveable wage, and control of the money supply; the examples of the Swiss and Venezuelan constitutions; state-chartered banks and credit unions; the Federal Reserve; public banking with the US dollar; Bank of N. Dakota; what happened in the 1920′s when the farmers decided to take control of the money supply;the Fiscal Emergency Preparedness bill based on California Assembly bill; the currency commons, open source exchange.

VTDigger

Contact
Jennifer Krause
Jennifer@dh-cpa.com

Sales levels increasing employment remains stable; capital spending decreases demands for Shumlin to address healthcare and broadband issues

Williston, VT January 31, 2012 – The Certified Public Accounting firm of Davis & Hodgdon Associates CPAs – PLC, located in Williston, Vermont, conducted an Economic Survey earlier this month regarding the future of Vermont-based businesses. The survey was based on one developed and used by the Vermont Business Roundtable. The survey was completed by more than 50 state businesses.

The firm’s client base, made up of organizations located across the state, responded to a range of questions. Respondents were asked to identify their type of industry, headquarter location and scope of marketplace along with forecasting their company sales, capital spending, employment status and best venue for advertising. In addition, they were asked to identify economic issues that respondents would like to see addressed by Governor Shumlin in 2012.

Vermont industries surveyed included construction, educational services, finance and insurance, health care and social assistance, hotel and restaurant, manufacturing, professional and technical, retail, transportation and warehousing and wholesale trade.

Respondents were asked how they anticipated their companies’ sales changing over the next six months. Over half (55%) foresaw their sales increasing by 10% to 30%. Only 10% estimated that sales would decrease by the same percentage range. Approximately 31% believe their sales levels will remain the same for this period.

When asked to forecast their companies’ capital spending over the next six months, 56% indicated they would see decreases of over 70%. Only 34% indicated they would increase their capital spending.

On the employment front, 46% of the businesses surveyed responded that they did not anticipate any changes in their companies’ employment levels over the next six months. However, 38% intend to hire one to three people in the same time period. Only 4% of respondents indicated they will decrease hiring by three to ten people.

Of these Vermont businesses surveyed, it was revealed the use of online advertising surpasses print, radio and television combined (39% versus 16%, 6% and 4% respectively). However, “other” forms of advertising including word-of-mouth, sales calls, meetings and client referrals came in at 35%, slightly behind online advertising including social media platforms as the best venue for advertising in the Green Mountain state.

Respondents indicated they want a number of business economic issues addressed by Governor Shumlin this year. Not surprisingly, concerns over rising healthcare costs and the need for improved broadband service top the list.

How does Davis & Hodgdon’s managing partner, John Davis, sum up the results? “The waters appear calm and this is significant in terms of moving forward,” shares Davis. He continues, “These economic indicators, based on a sampling of thriving Vermont-based organizations doing business in- and out-of-state, show promise. Sales are projected to increase, employment is stable and businesses are still remaining prudent with capital spending somewhat decreasing. We also see that business owners are demanding the Governor address important issues like healthcare costs and improved broadband service. All of this bodes well for our state’s economic future. Compared to some other states, I believe we are in an enviable position to move forward.”

For complete survey results, go tohttp://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e5gqy6wigwhzwc0k/results

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General Fund

Secretary of Administration Neale F. Lunderville released the October 2010 General Fund Revenues today. October is the fourth month of fiscal year (FY) 2011. General Fund revenues totaled $92.28 million for October 2010, and were +$1.27 million or +1.40% above the $91.01 million consensus revenue forecast for the month. Year-to-date General Fund performance of $373.93 million was +$13.71 million, or +3.81% ahead of year to date target of $360.22 million. As was the case last month, this +$13.71 million overage is almost fully attributable to one-time bank franchise receipts in August and likely one-time corporate income tax receipts in September.

The monthly targets reflect the revised Fiscal Year 2011 Consensus Revenue Forecast approved by the Emergency Board at their July 14, 2010 meeting. Statutorily, the State is required to revise the Consensus Revenue Forecast two times per year, in January and July; the Emergency Board may schedule interim revisions if deemed necessary. The next Emergency Board meeting will be scheduled for January 2011.

Personal Income Tax (PI) receipts are the largest single state revenue source, and are reported Net-of-Personal Income Tax refunds. Personal Income Tax receipts for October were recorded at $47.98 million, or -$0.01 million or -0.02% below the monthly target of $47.99 million.

Corporate Income Taxes for October, which are also reported net-of refunds, were recorded at $3.70 million against a target of $2.78 million, or +$0.93 million (+33.34%) above target.

The consumption taxes experienced mixed results for October; Sales & Use Tax receipts of $20.17 million exceeded the monthly target by +$0.12 million (+0.60%), while Rooms & Meals Tax receipts of $10.66 million fell below target by -$0.02 million (-0.21%).

The year to date results for the four major General Fund categories are as follows: Personal Income Tax, $181.65 million (-0.03%); Sales & Use Tax, $73.73 million (+0.75%); Meals & Rooms Tax, $44.74 million (-0.04%); and Corporate, $26.71 million (+55.78%). Secretary Lunderville noted that, “As was the case last month, approximately $7.2 million of the favorable year to date Corporate Income Tax results was associated with a very small number of corporate estimated payments. We remain concerned that these estimated payments may be overstated and that some portion will be refunded when corporate income tax returns are filed. Our economist views this above target result as a one-time event and not indicative of an economy improving more quickly than expected.”

The remaining tax components include Insurance, Inheritance & Estate Tax, Real Property Transfer Tax, and “Other” (which includes: Bank Franchise Tax, Telephone Tax, Liquor Tax, Beverage Tax, Fees, and Other Taxes). The results for the month of October were as follows: Insurance Tax, $021 million (-32.26%); Estate Tax, $1.05 million (-22.24%); Property Transfer Tax, $0.77 million (+3.32%); and “Other”, $7.74 million (+8.95%). Year to date results for these categories were: Insurance Tax, $8.49 million (+0.45%); Estate Tax, $3.72 million (-29.86%); Property Transfer Tax, $2.82 million (-11.42%); and “Other”, $32.06 million (+21.09%). The majority of the favorable year to date results in the “Other” category were due to unanticipated settlement activity in August in Bank Franchise Taxes.
Transportation Fund

Secretary Lunderville also reported on the results for the non-dedicated Transportation Fund Revenue for October. Total non-dedicated Transportation Fund receipts of $18.01 million for the month were slightly below target by -$0.46 million (-2.47%), against the monthly target of $18.46 million. The year to date non-dedicated Transportation revenue was $72.50 million versus the target of $72.94 million (-$0.43 million, -0.59%).

Individual Transportation Fund revenue receipts components for October were: Gasoline Tax, $5.55 million or +7.10% ahead of target; Diesel Tax, $1.25 million or -12.38% short of target; Motor Vehicle Purchase & Use Tax, $4.32 million or +1.30% above target;

Motor Vehicle Fees, $5.55 million or -8.16% behind target; and Other Fees, $1.34 million or -13.56% short of the monthly target. The October year to date Transportation Fund revenue results were: Gasoline Tax, $21.65 million or -1.29% short of target, Diesel Tax, $4.81 million or -1.49% below target; Motor Vehicle Purchase & Use Tax, $16.74 million or -2.16% below target; Motor Vehicle Fees, $23.61 million or +2.78% above target; and Other Fees, $5.69 million or -5.73% short of target.

Secretary Lunderville also reported on the results for the Transportation Infrastructure Bond Fund (“TIB”). TIB Fund Gas receipts for October were $1.57 million or +18.03% above target; year to date receipts of $5.76 million were -0.99% below target. TIB Fund Diesel receipts were $0.06 million or -62.05% below target for the month; year to date TIB Diesel receipts were $0.56 million or -4.23% behind target. TIB Fund receipts are noted below the following table: Transportation Fund By Major Element (In Millions)*

Education Fund

The “non-Property Tax” Education Fund revenues (which constitute approximately 11.9% of the total Education Fund sources) were released today by Secretary Lunderville. The non-Property Tax Education Fund receipts for October totaled $13.81 million, or -$0.06 million (-0.43%) short of the $13.87 million target for the month. Year to date Education Fund revenues were $51.10 million or -0.37% behind the year to date target of $51.29 million.

Conclusion

“The loss of momentum in the economic recovery continues to cause concern about the stability of the recovery,” said Secretary Lunderville.

“Compared to prior fiscal years, October year-to-date results for fiscal year 2011 have exceeded fiscal year 2010, but remain 2.9% below fiscal year 2009 and 2.3% below fiscal year 2008 for the same four-month period,” continued Lunderville. “The current forecast does not project a return to fiscal year 2008 revenue levels until fiscal year 2013.”

“The year-to-date General Fund results are 3.81% ahead of target. However, adjusting for the $12.1 million in one-time activity, the results through October would be 0.4% ahead of target,” Lunderville concluded. “While we are pleased that our current Consensus Forecast will hold until the January 2011 revision, we do not see the current results as an indication of the economic recovery surging ahead.”

VTDigger

Matt Dunne, 8/2/2010

Matt Dunne laid the blame for a significant decline in Vermont business startups at the feet of Republican Gov. Jim Douglas on Monday.

The total number of businesses launched in the state dropped significantly from 2003 through 2009, from a high of about 2,700 new companies to a low of about 1,800, according to a chart Dunne presented at a press conference in Winooski. The chart was based on data from the Vermont Secretary of State’s office.

Dunne, one of five candidates in the Democratic gubernatorial primary, told an audience of several dozen reporters and business owners that the sharp dropoff began the year the Douglas administration began in 2003, and he made a point of singling out Lt. Gov. Brian Dubie, the sole Republican candidate for governor, for a share of the blame.

Dubie has been campaigning hard on a pro-business platform, with a sharply different view of the state’s economic difficulties, blaming too much government, taxation and regulation.

Dunne countered Monday, “We are losing ground and losing ground quite dramatically.” The state, he added, “doesn’t have the farm team for the next generation of IDXes.”

The former state senator asked rhetorically, “What went wrong?”, and then proceeded to tick off a list of missteps. Dunne said the Douglas administration failed to implement a comprehensive business plan, to invest in higher education, to foster discussion between state leaders and business leaders, to address the state’s complex tax structure and regulations, and to find a way to stem the burdensome costs of doing business in Vermont – particularly escalating health care expenditures.

All of these factors are stifling the state’s economic growth, Dunne said.

Though Vermont has topnotch quality of life and education ratings compared with the rest of the country, its business rankings, according to a recent CNBC study, are near the bottom. Vermont is ranked 40th for technology and innovation, 46th for transportation and infrastructure, 43rd in cost of
living, 37th in business friendliness and 40th in access to capital for businesses.

“Vermont succeeds when it sends out intellectual property and brings in cash – whether it’s value-added food, software or comic books,” the Google community affairs executive said.

State government needs to take a fundamentally different approach to the economy, Dunne said, because the state is not a “sweet spot” for large out-of-state corporations. In his view, small startups create a necessary economic “churn” when they grow successful enough to be acquired by bigger
companies. Vermont should also focus on the “creative” economy, communities that attract congregations of innovative artsy people; its “place-based” economy, that is its parks, downtowns and tourism; and the “slow money” economy, investments in agriculture, food markets and historic preservation.

He said the state’s brand potential, its natural beauty and convenient location – near Montreal, Boston and New York – give entrepreneurs a distinct marketing advantage that has not been capitalized on. In addition, the state’s high bond rating should enable it to make revenue bond investments in broadband that would give Vermonters Internet access “to the last mile of every town.”

The broadband investment would create 5,270 jobs and bring an influx of $275 million into the state, according to a study he cited from “Connected Nation.” As governor, Dunne said he would also create a “pre-permitting system” for redevelopment of 4 million square feet of unused industrial space in Vermont. He called for investments in rail and air transportation for business travel, “next generation” agriculture, including an “Intervale” in every county, as well as shared processing facilities and slaughterhouses.

Dunne would give small businesses access to capital through micro-loan programs, a capital gains tax incentive for investments in Vermont companies and an expansion of the “seed capital fund” for startups.

He proposed a “service scholarship” program to reduce the high debt load carried by Vermont college graduates and additional funding for job training, preschool and higher education.

Health care costs, which are rising at a rate of $1 million a day, are too burdensome for local companies, he said, and he proposed a self-insurance plan for the state that would put the administration of health care in the hands of one insurer regulated by the state.

He also said the “management culture” in Montpelier needs to change. Dunne said the regulatory process needs to be more predictable, and government spending on private contracts ought to be more transparent.

“We are in the dark ages as a state and we’re unable to take advantage of the resources we have,” Dunne said.

Dunne is the fourth Democratic gubernatorial candidate to release an economic development plan in the last few months. He did not release specifics regarding the costs of the aforementioned programs.

Read a copy of Dunne’s report, “The Innovation State.”

VTDigger

Contact: Rep. Kesha Ram, 881-4433

February 2, 2010

In light of a meeting at the White House tomorrow regarding energy and climate issues to which Governor Douglas has been invited as part of a select group of governors, a nonpartisan letter was circulated among state legislators today urging him to support comprehensive federal clean energy jobs legislation [see attached letter].

The effort to disseminate this letter was spearheaded by Reps. Kesha Ram (D-Burlington) and Joseph Baker (R-West Rutland), with both taking the lead as signatories and making announcements in their respective caucuses.

“It is vital that Vermont be ahead of the curve in attracting and promoting the industries that will create clean energy jobs, as these job sectors are growing at a rate 250 percent faster than the rest of the economy. The 64 signatures to this letter demonstrate that Vermont legislators of all political persuasions agree on this,” said Rep. Ram. “Governor Douglas has the opportunity to solidify what we hope will be an ongoing partnership with the White House and Congress in ensuring that our state and federal leadership are working together to continue building a green, clean energy-based economy in Vermont.”

Rep. Ram was alerted to the governor’s imminent trip as part of her role as the Vermont legislative lead in the national Coalition of Legislators for Energy Action Now (CLEAN), an organization of state legislators from across the country communicating regularly with the White House and seeking strong federal action on creating clean energy jobs and curbing greenhouse gas emissions. CLEAN has gathered 1201 signatures from state legislators nationally to urge Congress to enact strong clean energy jobs and climate legislation, including 47 Vermont legislators [see attached document].

Signatories to the letter include the chairs of both House and Senate Natural Resources Committees, Rep. Tony Klein and Sen. Virginia Lyons. They also include Republican Vice Chair of the House Natural Resources Committee Rep. Joseph Krawczyk, House Majority Leader Rep. Floyd Nease, Assistant Majority Leader Rep. Lucy Leriche, and Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Sandy Haas.

“The Green Mountains are on the cusp of becoming greener. This is a nonpartisan letter to encourage Washington to look at our example for the rest of the country,” said Rep. Baker.

National CLEAN Letter
Gov Douglas Clean Energy Letter

VTDigger

The U.S. Department of Agriculture began processing payments under the Dairy Economic Loss Assistance Payment program just prior to Christmas. Farmers have already begun seeing deposits.

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), a senior member of the Senate appropriations committee, and Rep. Peter Welch (D-Vt.), cochairman of the Congressional Dairy Farmers Caucus, helped guide the measure through the congressional appropriations process.

This funding will result in a payment of about $8,000 to the typical Vermont farmer.   The Sanders dairy assistance measure provides $290 million for direct support to dairy farmers and another $60 million set aside nationwide to purchase cheese for food banks and nutrition programs.

The county-specific funding levels as calculated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture are $1,206,542 for Addison County; $89,328 for Bennington County; $378,141 for Caledonia Country; $241,599 for Chittenden County; $113,441 for Essex County; $1,505,072 for Franklin County; $114,982 for Grand Isle County; $161,587 for Lamoille County; $371,581 for Orange County; $730,752 for Orleans County; $273,943 for Rutland County; $143,378 for Washington County; $139,186 for Windham County; and $114,225 for Windsor County.  In total, Vermont farmers will receive $5,783,757 in emergency aid.

Sanders said; “At a time when family-based dairy farmers in Vermont and across the country have received the lowest milk prices in 40 years, these emergency payments will be a real help in keeping many Vermont farms viable and in business.  The truth is, however, that we need long-term solutions to the dairy crisis in order to create a situation where farmers receive fair and stable prices for their product.  My office is now working with dairy farmers and their organizations in Vermont and around the country to examine how we go forward – including the need for supply-management.”

Leahy said, “Slumping revenues have pushed dairy farmers to the brink, and these payments will help many to hang on.  Secretary Vilsack pledged to promptly get these funds into farmers’ hands, and we appreciate his efforts.  We also commend the Farm Service Agency county staff for working so hard to get these payments out to farmers so quickly during the holidays.”

Welch said, “2009 has been a tremendously difficult year for Vermont’s hardworking dairy farmers. While this emergency assistance will be helpful to many farmers struggling to hold on until prices rebound, it is clearly just a drop in the barrel. I am hopeful that, working with Vermont farmers and the Congressional Dairy Farmers Caucus, we will make great strides in 2010 toward building a dairy industry that is sustainable in the long term.”

The average price farmers received for their milk fell this year to as low as $11.30 per hundredweight, down from $19.30 in July 2008.  Prices have recently rebounded to $15 per hundredweight. It costs farmers at least $18 per hundredweight to produce milk. As prices plunged, family dairy farms in Vermont and around the country went out of business.

For farmers who may not have participated in the Milk Income Loss Contract or MILC program, sign-up for this aid remains open until January 19, 2010.  They should go to their local FSA County Office and submit their production numbers for February through July 2009.

Contacts:

Will Wiquist (Sanders): 202 224-5141

David Carle (Leahy): 202 224-3693

Paul Heintz (Welch): 202 577-7970

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