• Allows Commissioner to require electronic business registration with UI system.
• Protects employers from increases in UI tax rates for COVID-19 related layoffs and quits.
• Authorizes individuals to receive UI benefits if they quit for certain COVID19 related reasons.
• Secs. 32 and 33 sunset the changes in Secs. 2 and 3.
• Makes a change to VT’s UI notice requirements that is necessary to make VT eligible for additional federal funding.
• Prepay insurance claims to keep clinics from closing
• Reimburse for empty nursing home beds
• Waive co-pays and deductibles for COVID-19 treatment
• Quickly relicenses retired health care workers
• Relax or waive healthcare workforce regulations
• Expand the use of telemedicine
• Boost nutrition assistance for elderly Vermonters and children
• Give flexibility on car license renewals and vehicle inspections
• Let employees care for a sick person without losing unemployment insurance time

• Sec. 1. LEGISLATIVE INTENT; PROTECTION OF CITIZENS AND OF ELECTIONS
• Sec. 2. ELECTIONS IN THE YEAR 2020; SUSPENSION OF PRIMARY PETITION, STATEMENT OF NOMINATION, AND LOCAL ELECTION VOTER SIGNATURE REQUIREMENTS
• Sec. 3. ELECTIONS IN THE YEAR 2020; SECRETARY OF STATE; BILL AS PASSED BY THE HOUSE AND THE SENATE GOVERNOR; TEMPORARY ELECTIONS PROCEDURES
• Sec. 4. 2020 LOCAL ELECTIONS BY AUSTRALIAN BALLOT
• Sec. 5. LEGISLATIVE INTENT; COVID-19 RESPONSE AND OPEN MEETINGS
• Sec. 6. OPEN MEETING LAW; TEMPORARY SUSPENSION OF DESIGNATED PHYSICAL MEETING LOCATION REQUIREMENTS
• Sec. 7. DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND WILDLIFE; FISH AND WILDLIFE BOARD; MEETING REQUIREMENTS IN THE YEAR 2020
• Sec. 8. EXTENSION OF DEADLINES APPLICABLE TO MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS AND REGIONAL PLANNING COMMISSIONS; CONTINUED VALIDITY OF LICENSES AND PLANS
• Sec. 9. TEMPORARY MORATORIUM ON DISCONNECTIONS FROM PUBLIC DRINKING WATER AND WASTEWATER SYSTEMS

Update from Bob Gray, Lobbyist for Northeast Dairy Farmers Cooperatives 

Agri-Mark, Inc. – Dairy Farmers of America Northeast Council — Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Inc. NDFC 

• Workers supporting groceries, pharmacies and other retail that sells food and beverage products
• Restaurant carry-out and quick serve food operations – Carry-out and delivery food employees
• Food manufacturer employees and their supplier employees-to include those employed in food processing (packers, meat processing, cheese plants, milk plants, produce, etc.) facilities; livestock, poultry, seafood slaughter facilities; pet and animal feed processing facilities; human food facilities producing by-products for animal food; beverage production facilities; and the production of food packaging
• Farm workers to include those employed in animal food, feed, and ingredient production, packaging, and distribution; manufacturing, packaging, and distribution of veterinary drugs; truck delivery and transport; farm and fishery labor needed to produce our food supply domestically
• Farm workers and support service workers to include those who field crops; commodity inspection; fuel ethanol facilities; storage facilities; and other agricultural inputs
• Employees and firms supporting food, feed, and beverage distribution, including warehouse workers, vendor- managed inventory controllers and blockchain managers
• Workers supporting the sanitation of all food manufacturing processes and operations from wholesale to retail
• Company cafeterias – in-plant cafeterias used to feed employees
• Workers in food testing labs in private industries and in institutions of higher education
• Workers essential for assistance programs and government payments
• Employees of companies engaged in the production of chemicals, medicines, vaccines, and other substances used by the food and agriculture industry, including pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, minerals, enrichments, and other agricultural production aids
• Animal agriculture workers to include those employed in veterinary health; manufacturing and distribution of animal medical materials, animal vaccines, animal drugs, feed ingredients, feed, and bedding, etc.; transportation of live animals, animal medical materials; transportation of deceased animals for disposal; raising of animals for food; animal production operations; slaughter and packing plants and associated regulatory and government workforce
• Workers who support the manufacture and distribution of forest products, including, but not limited to timber, paper, and other wood products
• Employees engaged in the manufacture and maintenance of equipment and other infrastructure necessary to agricultural production and distribution

Supporting Resources

* The Governor’s Executive Order – https://governor.vermont.gov/content/addendum-6- executive-order-01-20 

* The social distancing protocols – https://www.healthvermont.gov/response/infectious- disease/2019-novel-coronavirus 

* The FAQ document – https://accd.vermont.gov/covid-19-guidance/stay-home-stay- safe-business-faqs 

* The NAICS codes – https://accd.vermont.gov/sites/accdnew/files/documents/NAICS- Code-Guidance-for-Vermont-Businesses.pdf. If you do not see your business listed, and you would like to request a waiver, you may fill out the Continuation of Operations form on the ACCD website – https://accd.vermont.gov/covid-19-guidance

Over the next couple of days, we will be developing specific resources to support you and the forest economy, and distributing a survey to understand your concerns and needs better. In the meantime, please visit our website or send us an email to share your thoughts. We know these are anxious times, and we respect and value your important contributions to our economy and quality of life. We are honored to serve Vermonters and assist however we can through this challenge.

On behalf of the FPR Forestry Division, stay well and best wishes.

Sincerely,

Michael C. Snyder, Commissioner

Sam Lincoln, Deputy Commissioner

Vermont Forests, Parks & Recreation

Congress Passes , President Signs, $2 Trillion CARE Bill in Response to COVID-19 Congress has passed, and the President has signed, the third bill in response to the Coronavirus pandemic with provisions that will provide businesses access to $350 billion in loans.

Finally, the bill that was passed Friday afternoon includes, among others, key provisions as reported by National Public Radio:

The emergency grants for small businesses and a forgivable loan program below are for companies with 500 or fewer employees. There are also changes to rules for expenses and deductions meant to make it easier for companies to keep employees on the payroll and stay open in the near-term.

The bill also:

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has roiled the U.S. economy, the Senate passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. In addition to direct payments to individuals of up to $1,200, extended unemployment benefits and federal loan guarantees, the $2 trillion CARES Act provides a number of food- and agriculture-related benefits, including funding to ensure children and low-income families have continued access to nutritious, affordable food and to ensure farmers have the financial resources they need to offset the more immediate economic impacts of the virus. Today’s article reviews the food and agriculture-related provisions of the CARES act.

For the agriculture-related provisions, the Office of the Secretary of the Department of Agriculture received $9.5 billion, approximately 19% of the total food and agriculture provisions, to provide financial support to farmers and ranchers impacted by coronavirus. The funding is allocated specifically for specialty crops, producers who supply local food systems and farmers’ markets, restaurants and schools, livestock producers, i.e., cattlemen and women, and dairy farmers.

In addition to the $9.5 billion, the Commodity Credit Corporation was replenished with $14 billion – 29% of the total funding amount for agriculture. The CCC is the funding mechanism for agricultural programs such as Price Loss Coverage and Dairy Margin Coverage. The CCC bolsters commodity and income support programs, natural resources conservation programs, disaster assistance programs and most recently the Market Facilitation Program. The $14-billion replenishment is for fiscal year 2020, so that’s in addition to the second and third tranche of MFP payments, as well as farm bill payments made last fall. This replenishment will allow USDA to develop new support programs to assist agricultural producers and potentially help agribusinesses such as ethanol plants. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic that has roiled the U.S. economy, the Senate passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act. In addition to direct payments to individuals of up to $1,200, extended unemployment benefits and federal loan guarantees, the $2 trillion CARES Act provides a number of food- and agriculture-related benefits, including funding to ensure children and low-income families have continued access to nutritious, affordable food and to ensure farmers have the financial resources they need to offset the more immediate economic impacts of the virus. Today’s article reviews the food and agriculture-related provisions of the CARES act.

Direct food- and agriculture-related provisions in the CARES Act total approximately $49 billion, or 0.0245% of the $2-trillion measure. The act provides a total of $24.6 billion for domestic food programs – representing 50% of the total agricultural program funding in the bill. The act allocates $15.8 billion, or 32%, to improve access to supplemental nutrition programs in the event costs or participation exceed budget estimates. Of that total, $300 million is allocated for SNAP improvements in underserved areas such as Indian reservations or U.S. territories. In addition to enhanced funding for SNAP, child nutrition programs received $8.8 billion in additional funding – representing 18% of the total.

Combined, these four buckets represent 98% of the food- and agriculture-related provisions in the CARES Act. The remaining 2% of funding – approximately $916 million – is allocated for enhancing staffing and services in a number of key mission areas. The package includes funding for a variety of programs critical for rural America, including $100 million for USDA’s ReConnect pilot, $25 million for distance learning and telemedicine programs, $185 million to support rural critical access hospitals, rural tribal health and telehealth programs, and poison control centers, and $20.5 million to support an additional $1 billion of lending through USDA’s Rural Development.