Vermont Governor Phil Scott and administration officials announced today that grants are being made available from the state’s federal Coronavirus Relief Funds to create health care and dairy assistance programs.
Governor Phil Scott and administration officials outlined the Vermont COVID-19 Agriculture Assistance Program during the regular COVID-19 briefing.
The grants are intended to aid dairy producers and processors who have encountered losses and market disruptions due to the pandemic.
Vermont Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets Secretary Anson Tebbetts says the dairy industry needs the grants because forced closures of businesses such as restaurants and schools eliminated key markets. “We are here to announce a relief grant program. The total package is $25 million for dairy. These are grants for those who milk cows, sheep or goats. There is also financial relief for those that process milk. Businesses that make a product like cheese, butter, yoghurt, ice cream or bottle milk are eligible. $3.8 million is earmarked for dairy processors. A total of $21.2 million will be available for family farms.”
Tebbetts says farmers are essential to Vermont’s future and feed the nation, but statistics show the impact of the pandemic is “sobering.” “Since March 1st we’ve lost 25 dairies. That’s in four months. In the rolling average before the COVID it was about 1-point-5 farms lost per month. So you can see this has been a direct result of what happened when the markets went away for our dairy farmers.”
The legislature also appropriated up to $275 million for a Health Care System Stabilization Grant Program. Human Services Secretary Mike Smith announced that health care providers who have lost revenue or experienced increased expenses due to the pandemic can apply for the grants. “This program was established with Coronavirus Relief Fund dollars. These cash grants will be made directly to Vermont providers and are essential in the next step to insure the financial stability of our health care system. We intentionally designed the application process to encourage all eligible providers to seek funding.”
Scott first issued a State of Emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 13th. During Tuesday’s briefing, the Republican said he plans to extend it for another month. “It’s the vehicle we need to keep certain protections in place, control outbreaks as they come up so we can keep the economy open and manage this ongoing crisis. As long as the data stays consistent we’ll stick with our efforts to incrementally lift restrictions and get closer to a point where this order is no longer necessary.”
Applications for the agriculture and health care assistance grant open on Friday July 17th.
