Vermont Business Magazine Representative Peter Welch on Friday introduced legislation to extend the deadline for state and local governments to use funds appropriated by the CARES Act. Currently, the state and local relief funds from the CARES Act must be used by December 31st, making it impossible to complete long-term recovery projects. Welch’s bill would fix that by authorizing the use of these funds through September 30, 2021.

Vermont Business Magazine US Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Ranking Member of the US Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, on Thursday led 30 of his Senate colleagues including Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy in sending a letter to President Trump urging him to work with Congress on a bipartisan basis to enact legislation that provides the emergency assistance and protections renters need to stay in their homes. Millions of children and youth are at risk of being evicted from their homes due to the Trump administration’s refusal to support critical rental assistance and relief measures to protect their health and well-being during this pandemic.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) Thursday joined Senate Judiciary Committee Ranking Member Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and all 10 committee Democrats in calling on the Justice Department inspector general to review whether U.S. Attorney John Durham’s probe into FBI activities is violating longstanding rules that protect criminal investigations from political influence. Their letter follows reports that Durham’s top deputy resigned due to concerns that Durham is being pressured to issue a report before the upcoming election.

by Timothy McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Today, the Vermont Department of Labor announced that the state's unemployment rate fell dramatically in August to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 4.8 percent. This reflects a decrease of three and five-tenths percentage points from the prior month’s revised estimate of 8.3 percent. Vermont's jobless rate is tied for fourth lowest in the nation. The decline was fueled largely by a Labor Force decline of nearly 15,000 workers from the July report and a steep decline in the number of unemployed of almost 13,000. The number of employed also fell by about 2,000.

Vermont Business Magazine Today, US Senators Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) and Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) held a conversation on Facebook Live to announce the Postal Banking Act. The United States Postal Service (USPS) has faced repeated attacks by the Trump administration including denying emergency funding during the pandemic and putting postal workers at risk of losing their jobs, disrupting operations and services, and delaying mail delivery. The Postal Banking Act would re-establish postal banking to provide financial security to millions of Americans in low-income and rural communities and create approximately $9 billion in annual revenue and strengthen USPS.