Pat Leahy Casts His Last Vote As Vermont’s Senator
Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Thursday cast his final vote in the Senate, and it was on a bill he led in writing: the Fiscal Year 2023 Omnibus Appropriations Bill that funds the federal government. Leahy has now cast 17,374 votes, the second-highest vote total in Senate history. More information on the Omnibus is available here. The Senate’s action sends it to the House. The final step will be as Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Leahy, as President Pro Tem of the Senate, sign (engross) the bill, so it can be sent to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
The bill contains more than $212 million in Congressionally Directed Spending (CDS) included by Leahy, for 38 projects across Vermont.
Leahy was also able to secure formula funding increases and programmatic changes to support longtime Vermont priorities.
Vermont’s ‘Center Seat At The Table’
As Leahy prepares to retire from the Senate on January 3, 2023, the investments included in the omnibus bill, through both programmatic and CDS funding, will benefit Vermont for years to come, in many cases providing funding for programs the state has come to rely on. In addition, funding for research, education and workforce training will benefit Vermonters well into the future.
Leahy said: “As chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee I worked with community leaders across our great state to identify projects and priorities that would make a real difference in the lives of Vermonters. And I am proud that I have been able to give Vermont a center seat at the table as this bill was written and fund programs that will make a real difference in the lives of Vermonters. Whether it is supporting the revitalization of our historic downtowns, or providing the resources to grow born-in-Vermont ideas into national programs, these bills make worthwhile investments across Vermont.”
Find link to a one pager of Leahy CDS that are funded here.
Find link to a description of each Leahy CDS project here.
Highlights include:
Burlington International Airport: Leahy secured $34 million in CDS to support the renovation and expansion of Vermont’s international Airport. Before the pandemic, as many as 17,000 people boarded flights out of BTV a week.
University of Vermont: Leahy secured $30 million in CDS for the University of Vermont’s Honors College. The funding will support programmatic development at the Honors College, promoting intellectual integrity, accountability and leadership among students. In programmatic funding, Leahy secured $15 million for UVM’s Institute for Rural Partnerships, $13 million for the Food Systems Center, $10 million for the Rural Centers Against Addiction, $2 million for Unmanned Aircraft Systems Research, and $4 million to establish a new Climate Impacts Center of Excellence at the University. Other Programmatic funding to support UVM programs includes:
·$1 million for the UVM based Forest Ecosystem Monitoring Cooperative;
·$5 million for the UVM based Northeaster States Research Cooperative;
·$2 million for research into disease bearing ticks;
·$750,000 for Lake Champlain research; and
·$2 million for a USDA soil testing program at the University.
Norwich University: Leahy secured $16.4 million in CDS for the Norwich University Multi-disciplinary Cyber Fusion Research and Development Center to create educational and workforce training opportunities in areas such as cybersecurity, information operations and dominance, computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and real-time decision making practices.
Lake Champlain: Leahy has long championed Lake Champlain as Vermont’s crown jewel. To support Vermont’s ‘Great Lake,’ Leahy secured $25 million for the Lake Champlain Geographic Program, and $11 million for the Great Lakes Fisheries Commission for Lake Champlain and Lake Memphremagog in programmatic funding.
Lake Champlain Basin Program: Leahy included language to authorize $35 million a year for the program for the next 5 years. The Lake Champlain Basin Program coordinates efforts and resources to improve the Basin’s water quality, fisheries, wetlands, wildlife, recreation, and cultural resources.
Vermont Department of Public Safety (VDPS): Leahy secured $9 million in CDS to support the state’s transition to a modernized, regional communications network, which will support first responders, particularly in rural areas, by helping to reduce emergency response times.
Vermont Agency of Agricultural Food and Markets (VAAFM): Leahy secured $6 million in programmatic funding to support VAAFM’s Dairy Business Innovation Center, which provides support to dairy businesses through projects that promote development, production, marketing, and distribution of dairy products.
Revitalizing Vermont Communities: Leahy has long advocated and secured investments in Vermont’s historic downtowns and community centers, describing them as being “at the heart of who we are as Vermonters.” In the omnibus appropriations bill released this week, he secured millions of dollars in funding to preserve these community treasures, including:
- $40 million in programmatic core funding for the Northern Border Regional Commission;
- $12 million in CDS to support the Vermont Agency of Transportation revitalize of Cherry Street and improve pedestrian access to the Church Street Marketplace;
- $10 million in CDS for the Preservation Trust of Vermont Village Community Trust Initiative to provide assistance for 20 communities across Vermont;
- $10 million in CDS for the Vermont Department of Libraries Public Facilities Preservation Initiative to help preserve and support libraries in our small, rural communities;
- $500,000 in CDS for the historic preservation of Shelburne Farms’ Historic Farm Barn;
- $500,000 in CDS for the historic preservation for Fletcher Free Library’s Historic Reading Room in Burlington; and
- $200,000 in CDS for the historic preservation for Kimball Public Library in Randolph.
Other CDS priorities for Vermont secured by Leahy include:
- $2.35 million – Leahy Center for Lake Champlain;
- $8 million – Vermont Center for Emerging Technologies (VCET) – Innovation Hub;
- $8.5 million – Vermont Energy Investment Corporation – Clean Heat Homes;
- $6.5 million – Saint Michael’s College – The Center for the Environment at Saint Michael’s College;
- $5 million – Vermont Network Against Domestic and Sexual Violence; and
- $6.7 million – Vermont Air and Army National Guard projects.
Other programmatic funding priorities include:
- $22 million – Organics;
- $15 million – Farm to School Grants;
- $3 million – National Center on Restorative Justice at Vermont Law School;
- $12.5 million – Paul Bruhn Historic Revitalization Grants; and
- $40 million – National Center for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in White River Junction.
(THURSDAY, Dec. 22, 2022, Washington) -- Senator Patrick Leahy
