Vermont Business Magazine US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Under Secretary Xochitl Torres Small today announced that USDA is awarding $74 million in grants to improve health care facilities (PDF, 321 KB) in rural towns across the Nation. These grants will help 143 rural health care organizations expand critical services for 3 million people in 37 states, Guam and Puerto Rico. The investments include $32 million for 67 rural health care organizations to help more than 1 million people living in socially vulnerable communities, and include $1 million to Springfield Hospital in
Vermont.

by Roland and Lisa Groeneveld and Eli and Nina Lesser-Goldsmith We all faced a barrage of unforeseen challenges when the pandemic arrived. As employers who deeply care about our teams, we prioritized the health and safety of our dedicated employees to ensure that their critical on-site work could continue. While we've done our best to address each new pandemic-related challenge, there's one ongoing crisis that we've been unable to overcome. That crisis is childcare. Affordable, high-quality childcare is essential to all Vermonters. Since the pandemic began, childcare has become even more difficult for our employees to find and afford, and for early childhood educators to provide.

Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D), Senator Bernie Sanders (I), Representative Peter Welch (D) and state and local officials announced Wednesday that the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) has awarded Vermont three Rebuilding American Infrastructure With Sustainability And Equity (RAISE) grants totaling $34,624,624 for Fiscal Year 2022.  The grants will support three projects in Vermont: replacing the Winooski River Bridge; construction of the Federal Street Multi-Modal Connector in St. Albans; and a planning grant to improve public transit in Northwestern Vermont. 

Senator Bernie Sanders As you may know, the Senate passed a reconciliation bill on Sunday called the "Inflation Reduction Act." The vote was 51-50. I voted for it. Let me be honest with you in saying that I have very ambivalent feelings about this legislation. This bill was a chance to do big things. It did very modest things. It was a chance to stand up boldly for the working families of our country who, today, are struggling hard to keep their heads above water. Sadly, it didn't do that. In my view, after weighing the pluses and the minuses of the bill, the pluses won out and I voted for it.

by John McClaughry The 2022 general election campaigns are now under way, and it’s time for citizens to smoke out where legislative candidates stand on issues that they are likely to face in 2023. I say “smoke out”, because many if not most candidates are nervous about telling voters where they stand on specific issues. That’s in part due to their limited understanding of the issues, and their anxiety about having to coherently defend any clear position.