My Work (so far)
My Legislative Work for Vermont
Since becoming Senator for Vermont, I’ve been pushing to lower costs for working Vermonters. I’ve introduced legislation to lower the cost of goods and services folks rely on, from housing and prescription drugs to energy bills and student loans. To invest in our rural communities, I’ve championed bills that would support our farmers, combat the overdose crisis, build out affordable high-speed broadband, and more. To strengthen democracy at home and human rights abroad, I’ve advocated for improvements to our courts system, pushed back on election disinformation, fought for humanitarian relief in Gaza, and supported democratic advances abroad.
Lowering Costs for Vermonters
- Lowering the cost of housing: Housing costs are brutal in Vermont and across the country. In my first two years, I introduced bills to crack down on companies that help landlords inflate rents with price-fixing algorithms and make it more affordable to buy a home in rural America. I also helped introduce the Green New Deal for public housing, a bill to build and renovate homes for working families, as well as legislation to build and rehabilitate more affordable housing across the nation. I’ll continue to focus on making more housing available to Vermonters at affordable prices.
- Lowering the cost of prescription drugs: I introduced legislation that will bring more affordable generic drugs onto the market faster, require drug companies to charge the same in America as they as they do overseas, and build on the Inflation Reduction Act by allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prices on more medications. I’ve also introduced a bill to protect independent pharmacies central to rural communities. I’ve used my platform on the Judiciary Committee to address patent abuses that allow pharma companies to create monopolies on drugs and charge higher prices.
- Lowering the cost of energy bills: I’m working to slash energy bills and reduce emissions by introducing legislation to create a national 70% renewable resource standard by 2034, support more heat pumps for farmers and rural small businesses, strengthen the electric grid to keep up with growing demand for renewable energy, and improve energy efficiency in public buildings to save taxpayers money.
- Lowering the cost of student loans: To ease the burden of student loan debt, I introduced legislation that would reduce existing federal loan interest rates to 0%, and cap interest rates for future borrowers. I also introduced a bill to ease the burden of student loans on parents and guardian borrowers. I supported the Biden Administration’s efforts to eliminate student loan debt and will continue to fight to ease this burden for students and families.
- Lowering the cost of food: I’m working to cut through bureaucratic red tape by introducing legislation that will make it easier to apply, stay enrolled, and access SNAP benefits for seniors, veterans, and students so more folks can put healthy food on the table.
Expanding Opportunities in Rural Vermont
- Supporting farmers: I introduced legislation that makes it easier for farmers who want to transition to organic farming and invests in the organic dairy industry. I also introduced legislation that will help young and beginning farmers access credit and farmland while cutting through red tape so farmers don’t have to wait as long to start their farm. I’m working to support farmers impacted by extreme weather by introducing bills that would help them protect their land from floods, create a new insurance program for farms hit by extreme weather, and streamline the emergency farm loan process after natural disasters. To protect farm workers, I introduced bills to crack down on corporate child labor violations and force companies selling to the federal government to provide decent wages and safe working conditions.
- Building out high-speed broadband and making it more affordable: Affordable, high-speed internet is essential in the modern age. I’m working hard to restore funding to the Affordable Connectivity Program, which provided $30 per month discounts on internet service to millions of households, nearly 26,000 households in Vermont. As Chair of the Rural Development and Energy Subcommittee, I advocated for Vermont’s broadband buildout and was proud to celebrate more than $20.5 million in rural broadband funding throughout Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom.
- Protecting Vermont’s outdoors: To protect some of Vermont’s most precious landscapes, I’ve introduced legislation to preserve Lake Champlain by reauthorizing the Lake Champlain Basin Program, Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historic Park, and combat the spread of invasive species that threaten our native ecosystems. My first bill as Senator to protect the Nulhegan River and Paul Stream in Northern Vermont passed the Senate unanimously.
- Expanding access to rural health care: I introduced bills to make sure rural EMS providers get reimbursed for calls that don’t require a trip to the hospital, stabilize payments to physicians who treat patients using Medicare, and protect frontline community health clinics and hospitals that are essential for rural communities.
- Combating the overdose crisis: My bipartisan bill to get more resources to frontline workers combatting the xylazine (also known as Tranq) crisis was signed into law by President Biden. To help prevent overdoses, I introduced legislation to expand access to test strips and increase funding to help treat substance use disorders.
Protecting Democracy and National Security
- Improving our justice system: I worked with my colleagues to confirm Mary Kay Lanthier, Vermont’s newest U.S. District Court judge. I led the successful effort to prevent funding cuts for federal public defenders that would have caused layoffs and introduced legislation to create an independent federal public defender system. To help restore trust in the Supreme Court, I introduced a constitutional amendment to set term limits, and a bill that bans justices from receiving gifts over $50.
- Supporting veterans, servicemembers, and their families: I’ve been fighting to expand on the PACT Act to get more benefits to servicemembers exposed to toxic burn pits. My amendment requiring the VA to review data on veterans exposed to burn pits in Kosovo passed through the Senate. I successfully advocated for the Defense Department to expand its registry of service-related health problems associated with burn pits, protect servicemembers from exposure to burn pits, expand a program supporting employee-owned businesses, and promote courses at the Army Mountain Warfare School in Jericho. I also introduced legislation lowering the cost for veterans to travel to health care appointments.
- Safeguarding voting rights and our elections: To protect voting rights and improve our elections, I introduced legislation to expand the right to vote for people with felony convictions, institute ranked choice voting in congressional elections, and crack down on social media companies that knowingly host election misinformation.
- Advocating for human rights amidst the Israel-Gaza war: To protect human rights in Gaza, I introduced measures to restore funding to UNRWA, codify sanctions against extremist settlers in the West Bank, and calling for the urgent delivery of humanitarian aid. I also introduced measures to block the sale of offensive weapons to Israel.
- Protecting American interests and democracy abroad: To protect other American interests abroad, I introduced legislation to help improve climate resilience in the Global South, resolutions supporting North Macedonia’s accession to the EU, and joined my colleagues calling on the peaceful transfer of power in Guatemala.
Responding to Flooding in Vermont
After the floods of 2023 and 2024, I traveled to Barnet, Barre, Burlington, East Hardwick, Essex Junction, Glover, Hardwick, Johnson, Londonderry, Ludlow, Lyndonville, Montpelier, Moretown, Orleans, Plainfield, Richmond, St. Johnsbury, Waterbury, Weston, and more to visit and meet with impacted Vermonters. I spoke with people who lost their homes and need a buy-out, farmers who lost a season’s worth of crops, town employees who worked overtime dealing with bureaucratic red tape, and small business owners who need federal support but are still waiting. I listened to the challenges they faced with the recovery process and discussed what they needed to rebuild stronger after the floods. Their experiences guided my work in Washington.
Our federal delegation has been all in on the fight to get Vermonters the resources they need to recover and rebuild more resiliently. Immediately after the 2023 flood, we urged the Biden Administration to quickly declare a major disaster to unlock federal recovery resources and pressed for more recovery aid for farmers. We also got the Department of Transportation to quickly release funds to repair roads and bridges. After the initial response, we pushed FEMA to fix challenges slowing the flooding recovery response for individuals.
I also introduced legislation to support disaster victims going forward, by:
- Reforming FEMA’s Individual Assistance program to help disaster victims get the assistance they need faster.
- Auditing how FEMA is spending its budget and recommending ways to reduce administrative costs.
- Helping farmers protect farmland from future flooding, creating a new insurance program for farmers to protect against extreme weather events, and helping more farmers access existing emergency farm loans after natural disasters.
- Increasing resources and support for small and rural towns after a natural disaster.
- Promoting the use of AI to predict and respond to extreme weather.
We had some success: After working with Vermonters and the Vermont congressional delegation to demand action, the U.S. Postal Service finally opened a new, fully-functional post office in downtown Montpelier, months after the Capital City’s post office was damaged in the July 2023 floods. And, we successfully pressed the Biden-Harris Administration to increase federal reimbursement for damaged infrastructure, including town roads and bridges.
I’ve been working with my colleagues for over a year to pass additional disaster funding to help communities in Vermont and around the country recover. I’ve taken to the Senate floor a dozen times to push for disaster aid. The congressional delegation has insisted leaders prioritize disaster relief funding and we kept up the pressure to take action. As Chair of the Rural Development and Energy Subcommittee, I held a hearing on disaster response, and I testified on behalf of Vermonters at an Appropriations Committee hearing.
This work and the advocacy of Vermonters helped lead to Congress passing over $100 billion in disaster relief. It’s going to help our homeowners, farms, small businesses, and communities impacted by flooding recovery and rebuild stronger than before.
Meeting with and Listening to Vermonters
Over the past two years, I’ve had the opportunity to meet with and listen to Vermonters in every county across the state. These visits—from touring one of our state-of-the-art companies to getting a cup of coffee with locals—guide and inform my work in the Senate.
To inform my work as Chair of the Rural Development and Energy Subcommittee, I’ve hosted listening sessions around the state focused on issues impacting Vermonters in rural communities.
To inform my work as Chair of the Rural Development and Energy Subcommittee, I’ve hosted listening sessions around the state focused on issues impacting Vermonters in rural communities.
I was honored to continue the legacy of organizing the Women’s Economic Opportunity Conference from Senator Leahy who began the free conference over two decades ago. It is a joy to bring Vermonters together to network and learn from their peers about how to grow economic power across the state.
In addition to meeting Vermonters in person, I receive thousands of messages from all over the state on a variety of topics that matter to them. They also help guide my work in the Senate.
One Vermonter wrote to me about his worry that when he was gone, his family would be burdened by the cost of his burial. Social Security pays just $255 to help families with funeral costs, an amount that hasn’t changed for seventy years. It’s not nearly enough.
So, I introduced a bill that would raise the Social Security survivor benefits to $2,900 to relieve some of that burden on families.
Serving Vermont isn’t a one-way street. It’s important to respond to constituents to keep them informed about what’s happening in Congress and what my office is doing to help Vermonters.
That’s why my office has sent nearly 65,000 responses back to Vermonters who’ve written to me since I became Senator.
Making Sure the Federal Government is Working for and Investing in Vermont
I’m working to deliver for Vermont communities. I’m proud to share that I secured over $42 million in last year’s budget for 27 projects around Vermont that will help build affordable housing, train more rural doctors and dentists, protect our forests, improve town buildings, libraries, water treatment facilities, and more.
I’ve also been excited to see progress and completion of projects that I helped secure funding for while I was in the House.
I’m also working with federal agencies to make sure that landmark laws passed by Democrats continue to invest in our state. Over the past few years, Vermont has seen many of these investments become reality.
Inflation Reduction Act
- My $4.3 billion home rebate program is on track to help Vermonters and families around the country receive tax rebates on energy efficiency homes upgrades.
- Over $5 million in funding have gone to rural farms and small businesses to make energy efficiency upgrades.
- $62 million awarded to Vermont to install thousands of solar panel systems.
- Over 3,000 Vermonters using Medicare have their insulin cost capped at $35/month.
- More than 19,000 Vermonters on Medicare use medications that will see lower negotiated prices in 2025.
- Thousands of Vermonters pay lower health insurance premiums on Affordable Care Act plans.
Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
- $1.6 billion over five years to improve Vermont highways and bridges.
- Over $228 million to deploy rural broadband in Vermont.
- $2 million to Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport to help build the new South Terminal.
- $8.6 million for 29 zero-emission and clean school buses in Vermont.
- Millions in funding to clean up polluted brownfield sites.
CHIPS and Science Act
- Consortium including University of Vermont, GlobalFoundries and the State of Vermont been designated as one of 31 Tech Hubs across the country for their work on advancing Gallium Nitride.
- GlobalFoundries received $1.5 billion in funding, which includes $125 million to modernize the Essex Junction plant.
PACT Act
- Over 1,400 Vermont veterans have had their PACT Act benefit claims granted.
Helping Vermonters Navigate the Federal Government
When Vermonters have an issue with a federal agency or program, my office can help. Since I was elected Senator, my team and I have worked to help thousands of constituents get the benefits and assistance they need.
- Responded to nearly 3,000 requests for assistance through my casework team.
- Returned over $2.1 million to Vermonters.
- Helped hundreds of Vermonters with visa and immigration case issues.
- Successfully helped over 100 Vermonters obtain new and renewed passports.
- 200+ requests to help with FEMA and the impacts of flooding.
- Assisted over 180 Vermonters with issues involving Social Security benefits.
- 140+ requests for help with the IRS, including tax refunds.
- 140+ instances of veterans and their families asking for help.
- Helped over 60 Medicare beneficiaries.