April 16, 2020

Honorable Patrick Leahy 437 Russell Senate Bldg. Senate Washington, DC 20510

Dear Senator Leahy:

You have been a strong supporter of cities and towns in the past and we thank you for the help you have offered on many occasions to mitigate difficult circumstances.

On behalf of the 246 cities and towns in Vermont, VLCT urges you in the strongest possible terms to support the Coronavirus Community Relief Act. This legislation, to be introduced by Senator Heinrich, would provide direct assistance to local governments regardless of their size and which could be used for lost revenues at the municipal level.

We are extremely grateful to Congressman Welch for supporting H.R. 6467, the legislation on the House side that was introduced by Representative Neguse.

Cities and towns in Vermont are extremely small relative to communities in much of the rest of the country. Municipal revenues are cratering in the same way that they have for state governments. Cities and towns are on the front lines of delivering services to constituents – from keeping roads passable to providing law enforcement and emergency medical services, from working with the non-profit community to provide housing for the homeless while ensuring social distancing. They also manage volunteers who are doing everything from sewing masks for workers to delivering meals to families in need. At a time of extreme need, local

governments are trying to keep their employees working to the extent possible, given the requirements of Scott’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” executive order.

However, municipal leaders are right now making the difficult decisions to furlough or lay off employees who provide those very services. The CARES Act provides no direct assistance to cities and towns of less than 500,000 population – unlike many other sectors such as schools and small businesses –not only in Vermont but across the nation. CARES Act funds are severely constrained in terms of potential uses and there is currently no assurance that local governments in Vermont would receive any of the $1.25 billion available in Vermont.

The relevant part of the Coronavirus Community Relief Act provides that a unit of local government shall use the funds provided under a payment made to cover only those costs of the unit of local government that:

• are reasonably deemed by the unit of local government to be necessary; and • directly or indirectly involve, relate to, are, have been, or will be incurred or be a response to

circumstances due to, the public health emergency with respect to the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID–19); and were incurred during the period that begins on March 1, 2020, and ends on December 30, 2020.

The term “costs” includes lost revenue, reimbursement for expenses already incurred, and increases in costs reasonably believed to be the result of or a response to circumstances caused by the public health emergency with respect to COVID-19.

89 Main Street, Suite 4, Montpelier, VT 05602 | Tel: 802-229-9111 | Fax: 802-229-2211 | Email: [email protected] | Web: www.vlct.org

We urge you to ensure that direct aid is available in a reasonable timeframe to cities and towns regardless of size and without the aid being filtered through a county or regional unit of government.

Thank you for your ongoing support of local governments in Vermont.

Sincerely,

Karen B. Horn Director, Public Policy and Advocacy