Welch to Discuss Flood Recovery, Climate Change Ahead of 2023 and 2024 Flood Anniversaries
| Wednesday | July 8, 2026 |
| 1:30 PM | Welch to Host Event in Montpelier on Flexible Flood Recovery Funding for Vermont Following push by Welch and Vermont Delegation, the State has been awarded $67 million in flexible Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) funds MONTPELIER – U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) will host an event highlighting the importance of the Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Relief (CDBG-DR) program, administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Senator Welch will visit the location of a new housing project funded by the CDBG-DR program and discuss the importance of flexible funding for Vermont’s flood recovery. He will celebrate CDBG-DR funding for Vermont alongside local and state leaders, and discuss Vermont’s recovery progress after the 2023 and 2024 floods. Senator Welch championed a comprehensive disaster relief bill, passed and signed into law in 2024, which provided more than $100 billion in relief for disaster-impacted states like Vermont. This included $12 billion in flexible CDBG-DR funds to help communities across the country recover from natural disasters. Vermont has received $67 million in CDBG-DR funding, which has supported housing construction and rehabilitation, infrastructure redevelopment and repairs, and flood mitigation and project planning. WHO: Senator Peter Welch; Doug Farnham, State of Vermont’s Chief Recovery Officer; Alex Farrell, Commissioner of Vermont’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD); Nate Formalarie, Deputy Commissioner of DHCD; Angie Harbin, Executive Director of Downstreet Housing; and Beth Sightler, CEO of Washington County Mental Health Services WHEN: Wednesday, July 8, 2026, 1:30 p.m. WHERE: 9 Heaton St, Montpelier, VT MEDIA RSVP: Media are kindly asked to RSVP to Elisabeth_St.Onge@welch.senate.gov |
| 6:00 PM | Welch to Join Climate Action Campaign for People’s Hearing on Impacts of Climate Change and Extreme Weather Community members, business owners, and local leaders will share firsthand testimony of the impacts of extreme weather, and how weakened protections will put Vermonters at risk BARRE — On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), U.S. Representative Becca Balint (VT-AL), Vermont State Senators Anne Watson and Andrew Perchlik, and other local leaders will join the Climate Action Campaign (CAC) and its Vermont partners for an Extreme Weather People’s Hearing. The event, through first person experiences and testimony, will highlight how climate change is fueling more dangerous and deadly extreme weather, and threatening the lives and livelihoods of Vermont residents. Small business owners, public health experts, farmers, and other community members will testify in detail about how their lives have been disrupted by climate-change-fueled extreme weather, including the catastrophic flooding of 2023 and 2024. They will also bear witness to how the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed weakening or elimination of climate protections threatens to worsen these impacts. WHO: Vermont residents, business owners, public health experts, farmers, and elected officials, including: U.S. Senator Peter Welch U.S. Representative Becca Balint Vermont State Senator Anne Watson Vermont State Senator Andrew Perchlik Barre City Councilperson Amanda Gustin Former Lt. Governor David Zuckerman WHEN: Wednesday, July 8, 2026, 6:00 p.m. WHERE: The Old Labor Hall: 46 Granite St, Barre, VT MEDIA RSVP: Media are kindly asked to RSVP to Elisabeth_St.Onge@welch.senate.gov. Press is encouraged to arrive by 6:00 p.m. Senator Welch will be available ahead of the event for 1:1 interviews. |