MONTPELIER — Vermont’s congressional delegation plans to funnel more than $58 million in federal funds to projects around the state including housing and infrastructure projects, technical school programs and construction for Vermont Air National Guard facilities.
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and U.S. Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., announced the federal dollars for Vermont at a Friday press conference in the Statehouse. The money from Washington, D.C., comes from 11 annual federal appropriations bills for the fiscal year.
The money is designed “to address some of the various serious crises facing Vermont,” Sanders said.
Each senator highlighted the projects most important to them. But both were quiet on a $4 million windfall for the Vermont Army National Guard, half of which will go to constructing a “readiness center” in northeastern Vermont, according to Welch’s office. The other $2 million is set aside for finishing construction on a guard administration building.
The biggest single ticket item announced by senators is $12 million directed to the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board for creating affordable rental housing and developing shelters across the state.
“Too many people are homeless. Too many people are spending 40 to 50 percent of their limited incomes on housing,” Sanders said.
Middlebury is set to receive the biggest chunk of money for a single housing project, which allocated $5.25 million for a 21-unit rental apartment building. That grant will go to Ascend Housing Allies Inc., a South Burlington company that focuses on supporting low-income people with housing.
Other parts of the spending packages are designed to improve Vermont’s housing market more indirectly. The Vermont Office of Economic Opportunity is set to get $2 million for home repair and remediation projects, which is expected to be spent on 120 homes over five years.
A handful of municipalities including Montpelier, Richmond, Woodstock, Burlington, Bolton and Berlin can expect to see money for improving their drinking or wastewater systems.
Sanders said he was particularly passionate about expanding access to dental care in Vermont. “In Vermont we don’t have enough dentists. The cost of dental care is very very high,” he said.
Among the most expensive projects was a $4.6 million grant for a dental clinic. That clinic will have 46 chairs and be staffed by third- or fourth-year students from the University of Detroit Mercy, a Michigan dental school that has long sought to send dentists in training to Vermont. The clinic is set to support dental training for up to 64 students.
“I think it will be a very, very significant step forward in addressing the dental crisis,” Sanders said.
Other measures in the federal spending packages are designed to increase Vermont’s workforce. Over $3 million is set to go toward an industrial park in Brattleboro, which is slated to create 350 jobs over the next seven years.
The senators also want to expand Vermont’s technical school programs, giving Vermont State University $2.5 million for a certification program in the trades.
“What we need is to make sure we have workers in this state,” Sanders said. And rolling out improvements to Vermont’s infrastructure relies on having workers in the trades, he said.
Welch said that considering the state’s struggles retaining young Vermonters, it’s important to make sure that young people have opportunities in the line of work they want to go into.
Following years of record-breaking floods, then extreme drought across the state this summer, the earmarks will also address mitigation and response efforts for climate disasters.
The package of appropriations includes $500,000 on a flood control study of the Winooski River in Montpelier and Barre. On top of those funds, it gives the City of Barre more than half a million dollars to restore floodplains in hope of mitigating future flood risk.
Climatologists with the American Association of State Climatologists will also be preparing a drought plan for the state and a platform for better predicting flood risks with $375,000 in funding for the American Association of State Climatologists.
