— The Vermont Senate approved legislation that would send $70 million in emergency grants to businesses strained by the Covid-19 crisis. Any business that has seen 75% reduction in total sales during a single month of the Covid-19 crisis (compared to sales in the same month last year) could receive a grant under the proposal.
It would be up to the Scott administration to determine how large the grants to businesses can be and eligible uses for the funds.
“The phrase du jour, or for the month, I should say, has been ‘We need to get the money out the door’ to help our businesses recover and to help people at risk of renewed homelessness,” said Sen. Michael Sirotkin, D-Chittenden, chair of the Senate Economic Development Committee.
The legislation also contains $23 million that would be directed to the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board to secure and rehabilitate housing in areas of the state where homeless populations are high and the number of affordable apartments are low. – Xander Landen
— Committees have begun drafting their Coronavirus Relief Fund wish lists as the House Appropriations Committee aims to have a funding package together by the end of this week.
House General has constructed a Covid-19 housing response package that looks much different than Gov. Phil Scott’s proposal. The plan would allocate $550,000 for legal and counseling services to serve those who are at risk of homelessness. Another $5 million would provide foreclosure protection. And $30,000,000 would go toward rental arrearage.
Additionally, $9 million would go toward rehabilitating Vermont’s homeless shelters so they can accommodate social distancing among their clients.
Chris Donnelly, director of community relations for the Champlain Housing Trust, said without this money, shelters won’t be able to take in enough people when the state stops housing those who are homeless and currently living in hotels.
“They’re not ready to take people when the weather starts getting colder,” Donnelly said. – Grace Elletson
— The House Education committee has also put together a proposal for CRF funds that would attempt to alleviate the costs schools incurred when the pandemic hit.
The plan would allocate $20 million to school districts for any coronavirus related costs incurred during fiscal year 2020. Another $20 million would go to supervisory unions to assist with the costs it would take to reopen schools for fiscal year 2021. And another $45 million would go to any costs it takes to address the learning losses students faced when schools closed.
The proposal also includes a $30 million allocation to both the University of Vermont and the Vermont State Colleges system for fiscal year 2021 to cover any coronavirus-related costs the institutions may have incurred. – Grace Elletson
— Secretary of Dan French visited both the House Education and Senate Finance committees to provide an update on the state’s plans to reopen schools come fall. “Reopening schools for in-person instructions is totally possible,” French told Senate Finance lawmakers.
The American Association of School Administrators estimated that reopening schools is going to cost, on average, $490 per student, which would cost Vermont around $40 million, French said.
French said that the Agency of Education has also been working with the Health Department to construct guidelines about how schools should reopen in the fall, which will cover social distancing and personal protective equipment protocols. – Grace Elletson
— Legislative intern Skyler Nash responded on Twitter to criticism that Senate Judiciary chair Dick Sears, D-Bennington, was tokenizing him for his work with the committee on racial justice legislation.
Sen. Debbie Ingram, D-Chittenden, called out Sears in a virtual floor session on Monday for only relying on “that one young black intern,” referring to Nash, who had agreed to work on legislation that would curb law enforcement’s use of force.
Sears apologized to Ingram, during debate on the virtual floor, for how his comments were received, adding “we’re going to hear from as many people as I can possibly hear from.”
Nash is a UVM student who has worked as an intern for both the Judiciary and the Joint Legislative Justice Oversight committees.
“I’ve worked too hard to educate myself and to advocate for these issues than to be reduced to ‘one young black intern.’” Nash tweeted. “Further – to think engaging ‘one young black intern’ would be the necessary due diligence to pass impactful racial justice policy is lazy and offensive.”
In a follow up conversation with VTDigger, Nash said he would be recusing himself from the committee’s work. – Grace Elletson
