Bernie Buzz

Vermont seniors — please join me for a virtual town hall this Thursday, December 17th at 5:00 P.M.

While we can’t be together in person this year for our annual senior holiday dinners, this town hall is a way for us to gather virtually. It will be an opportunity for me to share an update from Congress and hear from you about issues of importance to you. You can share your thoughts on the current pandemic, issues that impact your daily life like the high cost of prescription drugs and the importance of social security, or even tell me about what you worry about for your children and grandchildren, like student debt, affordable child care, and climate change. If the issue matters to you, I hope you’ll share your thoughts with me.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, commonly known as the CARES Act, is the largest emergency relief package in American history and included a substantial amount of direct aid to states. This flexible funding was included to help individual states respond to the unique needs related to this health and economic crisis. Vermont received $1.25 billion in this state-based funding, which is in addition to the tens of millions of dollars of federal aid provided to support critical services in Vermont like health care, housing assistance, emergency preparedness, and child nutrition. This is the single largest federal grant Vermont has ever received. Since the CARES Act was signed into law on March 27, the Vermont legislature worked diligently to determine how best to allocate the federal aid to address the many needs of Vermonters.

In the past few days over 1,600 Vermonters have participated in our poll and shared their thoughts on what should be included in the next federal COVID-19 package. I greatly appreciate the thoughtful and heartfelt replies. The poll will be closing soon and I would like to hear from as many Vermonters as possible. How has this crisis impacted you and your family? What must the federal government now do to support our people in need?

We are four months into this pandemic and it is long past time for the U.S. Congress to get back to work. The CARES Act, the largest emergency relief package in American history, was signed into law on March 27th. While it did provide vital assistance to the American people, it didn’t go nearly far enough. Our fellow Vermonters are struggling and need our help now.

The CARES Act created the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) to provide forgivable loans to help small businesses pay workers, rent, mortgage interest, and utilities. Since the funds became available in early April, over 11,000 Vermont businesses have received a total of $1.2 billion. However, the program has fallen short in many ways. The initial federal guidance about loan forgiveness was unclear, leaving many Vermont business owners confused and wondering if they should apply. Many businesses that did receive funds were concerned their loans would not be forgiven, leaving them with debt they might not be able to pay back.