State officials are worried that some of Vermont’s largest cities could lose access to federal funding for major planned transportation projects in the coming months because President Donald Trump’s administration may no longer support some, or all, of the goals behind them.
Meanwhile, the feds have already pulled the plug on nearly all of the funding for a project to build new electric vehicle charging infrastructure throughout the state. In some cases, the state had already inked agreements with contractors who were expecting to take on that work.
Michele Boomhower, the state Agency of Transportation’s director of policy, planning and intermodal development, explained the situation — another example of myriad downstream impacts of Trump’s actions early in his second term — to the Senate Transportation Committee Tuesday morning.
Boomhower said leaders at the U.S. Department of Transportation were ordered last week to “review” certain federal grants already in the pipeline to determine whether the projects slated for support relate to “diversity, equity and inclusion,” “climate change,” “environmental justice” or “gender,” as well as to review projects “whose primary purpose is bicycle infrastructure.”
“It’s very unclear right now,” she told the committee, “what that wording exactly means.”
Regardless, Boomhower pointed to 15 grants to municipalities and other organizations in the state that are now under “review.” The federal grants generally cover 80% of a project’s cost, with local leaders putting up the remaining 20%. Boomhower said even if the projects’ funding wasn’t cut outright, the feds may still lower their award to pay for a smaller scope of work.
The projects include, among others, roadway and pedestrian safety improvements in downtown Burlington and St. Albans, as well as along the mountain access road in Killington. Funds for a planned rebuild of the Winooski River bridge between Burlington and Winooski, and for a new pedestrian bridge planned over Interstate 89 in South Burlington, could also be impacted.
Boomhower noted that one of the state’s core sources of federal transportation funding — a pot of money for highways and bridges — appears to be untouched, as are a set of planned transportation projects supported by congressionally-directed spending, or “earmarks.”
Another set of funds has already been clawed back, though: the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, or NEVI, program, which was slated to pay for vehicle chargers in a dozen communities around the state. The program was created in 2022 during former President Joe Biden’s administration, but in Vermont, only chargers in the town of Bradford had been built so far, according to Boomhower.
As for the rest of the money for the charging network, she said, “it’s definitely over. It’s done.”
— Shaun Robinson
In the know
Democratic leaders in the Legislature have presented their counter-offer on a midyear spending bill that Gov. Phil Scott vetoed last week.
In a letter to Scott’s administration late Tuesday afternoon, Speaker of the House Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, conceded that they are willing to walk away from about $14.9 million in state spending in order to reach a compromise with the Republican governor on a budget adjustment bill.
That funding would have gone toward affordable housing development, a pilot housing program for disabled people, grants to municipalities impacted by flooding, and more. In his veto message, Scott wrote that he wants to hold off on increased state spending as state officials anticipate federal funding cuts to key programs.
Read more about the offer here.
— Carly Berlin
House Republicans gathered in the Cedar Creek Room Tuesday to voice their ire at Democratic colleagues for not taking up GOP-backed legislation.
Among their slate of concerns: legislation that would exempt military pensions from taxation, a priority of Gov. Phil Scott year after year that has recently gained traction on both sides of the aisle.
Despite support from half of the House with 75 sponsors, H.43, the military pension bill, hasn’t left the wall in the House Ways and Means Committee. The exemption would reduce tax revenue by about $4 million, but its supporters argue it will keep working-age retirees in the state, boosting the economy.
With such broad support, the tax credit could have a future if lawmakers pursue nontraditional methods, like a floor amendment. Asked about such a path, Rep. Lisa Hango, R-Berkshire, a key proponent of the legislation, was tight lipped.
“Anything is possible,” she said.
— Ethan Weinstein
On the move
A bill that eliminates inspection requirements and licensing fees for more Vermont food producers working in a home kitchen has advanced in the Vermont House with broad support.
Current law exempts at-home food manufacturers, or “cottage” food producers, that bring in less than $10,000 in annual gross sales from licensing requirements and fees, and their kitchens are not required to be inspected by the Vermont Department of Health. For baking businesses, that threshold amount is currently less than $6,500 annually, or $125 per week.
The changes in H.401 would raise the sales threshold to $30,000 for both at-home food manufacturers and bakers, meaning any business with annual gross receipts falling below that amount would not be subject to inspection or licensing fees.
All eight members of the House Committee on Agriculture, Food Resiliency and Forestry backed the bill unanimously Friday after making some amendments. The bill is currently scheduled for a potential vote in the House Committee on Ways and Means this Thursday.
Read more about the bill here.
— Izzy Wagner
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Oh, Canada
Canadian and Vermont business leaders spoke at a roundtable convened in Newport Tuesday by Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., to discuss the fallout from the Trump administration’s on-again off-again trade war with Canada.
“What’s going to happen,” said Mark Desmarais, owner and CEO of Track Inc., a lead distributor of snow grooming equipment with offices in both Vermont and Quebec, “when we can’t sell the Canadian and the European products in the United States, when we can’t sell the American products in Canada?”
A dual citizen of the U.S. and Canada, Desmarais was among the many attendees who said President Donald Trump’s attempts to drive a wedge between the two countries was not just bad for business, but personally upsetting.
“We can’t separate the two countries,” he said. “We’re one people. We’re one history.” Read more about the event here.
— Habib Sabet
Read the story on VTDigger here: Final Reading: State officials worry major transportation projects could lose federal funding.