S-350 is $93 million in direct grants to businesses, VHCB, and Economic Development organizations. Here is a breakdown of S-350:

The $50 million that the Governor proposed for dairy is not part of S-350. The Senate passed S-351, An act relating to providing financial relief assistance to the agricultural community due to the COVID-19 public health emergency last Friday, which contains money for dairy. I will go into more detail on S-351, in the Senate and House Agriculture committee updates.

Last Wednesday, the Governor and Secretary of Education Dan French announced that K-12 schools will open for in-person instruction in the fall. The Agency of Education will provide guidance for schools and parents as to logistics of the opening of schools. It is anticipated that students and staff will undergo a health questionnaire and temperature checks every day, and the state will prepare alternatives for remote learning if schools need to close.

For the latest information on reopening of businesses, lodging guidelines, restaurant openings, sporting requirements and other updates click here.

The Senate Ag committee passed S-351, which then went to the full the Senate where it passed last Friday. As I said last week, the amount allotted to dairy was significantly less than what the Governor had proposed. S-351 will go to the House Ag committee, where their dairy stimulus bill is now in-House Appropriations. The House has requested the full $50 million. Senate came up with the following:

APPROPRIATIONS SUMMARY

To qualify for assistance under this section, a milk producer or dairy processor shall:

The House Ag committee’s bill has $50 million just for the dairy industry, producers, and processors, including goat and sheep. The House bill includes the following language:

A milk producer may elect to have its economic harm determined by calculating the difference between what the producer was paid for milk produced between March 1, 2020 and December 1, 2020 and the price that the producer would have been paid if the price for milk remained at the statistical uniform price of $18.13 per hundredweight for the Middlebury location in January of 2020, or the milk producer may enter its own verifiable average price for March through December 2020 and calculate the difference to its own verifiable average price for January 2020 as well as added costs or expenses related to the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Dairy Processors

As I said, the House bill is in House Appropriations; I will be honest: I do not think that House Appropriations will approve the $50 million. I think that, in the end, the Senate Ag bill will be what is approved by the legislature for the dairy industry.

This bill, when it passed out of the House, contained 24 different sections, that included everything from Ecosystem Services, feral pigs, commercial feed, weights and measures and hemp language, most being technical corrections. The bill then went to the Senate Ag committee where it has sat for several weeks. The Senate Ag committee has added two more sections to the bill.  They include:

The report of the Commissioner of Financial Regulation shall include:

The Senate and House Agriculture committees will have to agree on the language in H-656 for it to move forward. The House Ag committee has indicated that they may not support the new sections from the Senate.

If you have not applied for the CFAP, you can call your FSA and sign up over the phone. Applications can be submitted electronically by scanning, emailing, or faxing. Please call your office prior to sending applications electronically. A CFAP Call Center is available for producers who would like additional one-on-one support with the CFAP application process. Please call 877-508-8364 to speak directly with a USDA employee ready to help. As of June 8, 2020, there was $832,948.05 disbursed to 80 producers.

The Senate Natural Resources committee has been taking testimony of H-926 the Act 250 bill. The committee is focusing on certain parts of the bill:

The committee is considering adding language to S. 237 – An act relating to promoting affordable housing, that incorporates the above provisions that are in Act 250. Senate Natural will be meeting this week to discuss these changes. You can find the schedule on Senate Natural Resources home page.

Update on Coronavirus Food Assistance Program Payments

By Bob Gray

So far, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) has paid out $1.4 Billion out of the $16 Billion in CFAP direct payments that were funded in the last Stimulus Bill. Those payments were as of last Monday. They included:

Some members of Congress from major fruit and vegetable producing states such as California and Florida have complained that not enough monies have gone to their farmers. Also, some farmers are saying the checks aren’t getting out the door fast enough. However, keep in mind local FSA offices are hobbled by the COVID-19 restrictions and many employees are teleworking. So, it is a difficult situation.

By Mike Oscar

The timing of the next stimulus package is still up in the air, and it appears that the bill could be worked out before the August recess. The payments of $600 a week, currently due to expire July 31, were discussed at a hearing of the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. Republicans have argued that the need to stabilize the economy; however, this month’s jobs report indicated that 2.5 million jobs were created in May, and the unemployment rate declined when it was expected to jump. A spokesperson for Senator Chuck Grassley on the Senate Finance Committee stated that data “underscores why Congress should take a thoughtful approach and not rush to pass expensive legislation paid for with more debt.” The President said last week he’ll ask Congress to pass more economic stimulus, including a payroll tax cut. The White House is looking to spend as much as $1 trillion, a figure that is said to have backing from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. A growing number of Senators want to slow down acting on the next stimulus package to let the existing funding, in the previous stimulus bills, have time to work their way through the economy. The U.S. is on track for its biggest budget deficits since World War II, but most economists say the recovery is still too fragile for government support to be withdrawn, and some GOP members agree with that assessment.

By Mike Oscar

Per the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), “the U.S. federal deficit was $424 billion in May as revenue shrunk and officials spent stimulus funds. Receipts totaled $175 billion in May, compared to $232 billion in May 2019. Lost wages and stimulus tax deferrals both contributed to the decrease. Outlays totaled $598 billion, compared to $440 billion in May 2019. In total, the May 2019 deficit was $208 billion.” The federal budget deficit was about $1.9 trillion in the first 8 months of fiscal year 2020, CBO estimates $1.2 trillion more than the deficit recorded during the same period last year.

The Health Department has organized testing for Vermonters. Anyone without symptoms can now be tested at a pop-up location. Health care workers, first responders, and childcare providers are encouraged to get tested. People who are returning to Vermont, and who are at day 7 or later in their quarantine period, can also be tested. Go to the https://www.healthvermont.gov/response/coronavirus-covid-19

The laws that will ban the use of plastic bags, expanded polystyrene, and require customers to request a straw and require the elimination of food waste from all businesses and residence trash will go into effect on Wednesday, July 1, 2020.

VRGA President Erin Sigrist and members spoke with Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner Peter Walke and staff on Wednesday to discuss the diminishing supply of paper bags across the country and identify the potential for the Department of Environmental Conservation to work with retailers that are showing they are making an effort to comply with the law. Unfortunately, DEC believes that legislative change is needed in order to provide any leeway for retailers.

Requests to push the effective date back or provide leeway for retailers have been largely ignored by the chairs of the House and Senate Natural Resources Committees.

As reported on our call with DEC:

At this time, the ban on plastic bags will take effect on July 1. The law does state that retailers may continue to use plastic bags that were purchased prior to May 15, 2019. Paper bag usage is still allowed, but retailers are required to charge at least 10 cents for paper bags over 10 inches tall.

Act 148 passed in 2012 will reach full enforcement on July 1, requiring that all businesses and residences in Vermont will be required to eliminate food waste and organics from the trash. VRGA President Erin Sigrist testified in front of the House Natural Resources Committee on April 7, requesting that the effective date for organics collection from retailers be postponed at least 6 months and potentially up to 1 year after hearing from members that the implementation is expensive and priorities have shifted to employee safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. The committee took testimony from various solid waste haulers and VRGA.

The Senate has passed a provision in S.227 that would eliminate the requirement of waste haulers to collect food waste during COVID-19 if they can prove the collection is a threat to the safety of the hauler. No support for retail was provided. The House has yet to approve the change.