 Good afternoon everyone. Thanks for being here. I hope everyone's commute was uneventful I want to first thank our teams at VTrans and municipal employees for the long hours working overnight and today Applying the roads be very much appreciate all the good work Speaking of roads today. We want to focus on the importance of planning ahead and investing in our critical infrastructure needs In my budget address as you might recall. I talked about the more than $150 million and surplus dollars we propose in the budget to make sure we can leverage even more federal dollars over the next few years Between all the federal programs passed recently like the bipartisan infrastructure law and the inflation and reduction act Billions more will be available to the states in addition to all the ARPA money currently spending But unlike ARPA these programs are more traditional and Requires states to match a percentage of the money themselves in order to receive the federal money In the return on investment is incredible We will receive a minimum of four federal dollars for every dollar we invest And in some cases it's ten times that amount And here's the good news We don't have to worry about where that match will come from because we have the money right now This year we have a record amount of state surplus Which is why I believe it would be wise to do Dedicate a hundred and fifty million of it to guarantee these funds are available when we need it The reason I'm advocating for this set aside is that we really don't know how the economy is going to do over the next few years At our e-board meeting in January The legislatures own economists told us we are likely to see revenue growth drop significantly in the coming years That means we might not have the match money we need Putting important projects at risk Also putting us in a tough position of either cutting programs Or raising taxes And neither are good options This is really about fiscal responsibility and good government thinking ahead and being prepared Dedicating the funding now would also provide certainty to our communities And the partners who do the work so they can plan ahead And if there is an economic downturn as many predict The economic activity these projects provide will help people stay employed In our economy moving Secretary Moore and Flynn will go into more detail about the much needed infrastructure We're talking about and they are a layer from ruttland and katie buckley from vlct We'll talk about how communities benefit from these investments Because as I said in my budget address This investment is all about communities Like work on route 78 in swanton Route two between cabot and danville route five in rattleboro And connecting their regions with safe roads and clean water with projects in bethel northfield and ruttland Not to mention the significant amount of broadband funding as well We have a golden opportunity to be pragmatic And help assure that our infrastructure and economic needs are met in the future And i'm hopeful the legislature sees the merits of the strategy as well i'll turn it over to secretary clinton for more Thank you governor and good afternoon The infrastructure investment in jobs act Has positioned vermont to realize the largest dedicated transportation infrastructure investment Likely since the onset of the eisenhower interstate highway system Vermont's transportation program is funded from the federal highway administration in five year cycles referred to as fast-stack transportation This most recent five-year cycle is delivering 1.7 billion dollars to the agency of transportation Which is an increase of 572 million dollars from the prior five-year cycle With that comes additional pressures as you've heard the governor say To have the required state match, which in our case is typically 20 to draw down those federal dollars As the governor has said Ensuring right now that vermont has secure and dedicated match money To utilize these federal funds to deliver increased transportation projects across our state Just makes sense And it will guarantee our ability to leverage this historic opportunity At that return on investment of four to one The governor's as recommended budget for 24 Identifies 79 million dollars from the current general fund surplus for fiscal 24 25 and 26 This will put 342 million dollars in transportation projects to work across vermont As a general practice, there is never a more cost-effective time to plan and to begin large construction projects than the present Failure to secure this funding now can have ripple effects across the entire project delivery pipeline Delaying our ability to advertise to go to bid into award contracts Of 754 projects as of today 223 transportation projects across vermont will have their delivery schedules impacted over time A few examples of actual projects in real impacts are In orwell reconstruction of shoulders in widening route 22a Construction is currently planned for 2027 and it would be delayed until 2030 In cabot to danville Reconstructing u.s. Route 2 Construction is planned to begin in 2026 and would be delayed until 2029 In norton up in esssex county replacing bridge number 41 on route 114 Construction is planned for 2028 and it would be delayed until 2032 In franklin replacing sidewalks on main street Construction is planned to begin in 2023 and it would be delayed until 2025 Wolkett replacing bridge 6 Construction is planned to begin in 2025 and would be delayed until 2027 In west rottlen us route 4 Replacing bridge decks on bridge 13 and 14 both east and westbound Construction is planned to begin in 2029 It would be delayed until 2035 And brattleboro reconstruction of us route 5 putney road Construction is planned to begin in 2028 and it would be delayed until 2033 But locking in these funds now will yield faster More predictable projects as the governor said with substantial long-term savings Guaranteeing that federal investment of at least four to one And it does also ensure that we aren't put in a position in leaner economic times to make difficult decisions Over what to cut or what taxes and fees to raise to cover the increased state match realities Doing this now will allow vermont communities and our industry partners the predictability to plan and to get things moving on these projects sooner And you can see from the map the projects at risk cover counties and towns across the state of vermont Vermonters need to be aware of these projects And they need to be aware of the delays to these projects if match is not secured with certainty And now I would introduce secretary julie more Good afternoon I think it probably can go without saying but vermont has some of the oldest infrastructure in the country And with age comes a whole lot of need Part of the challenge with water infrastructure, which is the centerpiece of the agency of natural resources Is that it's often out of sight and therefore out of mind But just because it doesn't have our full attention. It can't be assumed to be working well Water infrastructure is often the most valuable asset a community owns with the total value of pumps pipes and treatment plants Exceeding $50,000 for each household that's connected to the system This valuable infrastructure requires significant ongoing investments to properly maintain it and prevent challenges to public health The environment economic growth and climate resilience Based on agency projections, there will be roughly two billion dollars of investment needed in water infrastructure This means drinking water wastewater and storm water over the next 10 years alone in vermont This is to both refurbish existing systems and to prepare this essential infrastructure for the increasingly disruptive and potentially devastating effects of climate change Fortunately, we are at a unique point where there is unprecedented federal resources available to invest in water infrastructure vermont is eligible to receive an infusion of nearly 320 million dollars into our state revolving loan funds as part of the infrastructure investment and jobs act The revolving loan fund program is an epa partnership that provides communities with grants and low-cost financing For a wide range of water infrastructure projects In order to access these federal funds, however, vermont needs to provide $27 million in state match and the governor's fy 24 recommended budget Creates a reserve that ensures vermont will have that required match These resources will be used to support dozens of projects as shown on the map to my right And rolls up to things like $155 million to refurbish existing drinking water and wastewater systems To ensure that this core infrastructure continues to support vibrant communities Nearly $150 million to support lead service line replacement projects across vermont, which will improve drinking water quality And more than 40 million dollars during the same time period to address emerging contaminants like PFAS by improving drinking water and wastewater treatment These projects are significant undertakings that secretary flin spoke to that require robust planning and engineering design This means that there's often a long lead time needed for a community to ready a water infrastructure project for implementation And given the level of effort needed lead time and competing demands on community priorities Confidence that this funding will be available to support implementation when the time comes is critical If vermont were to forego making the commitment this fiscal year It will add uncertainty for communities making it harder and potentially more expensive to plan for and execute on these critical projects In fully committing the state funds to access literally hundreds of thousands of millions of dollars in federal resources It makes clear vermont's commitment to supporting our communities and investing in critical water infrastructure projects And with that I will turn it over to katie buckley from the league of cities and towns Hi there during the summer of 2021 Towns cities and villages across vermont took a big leap in accepting over 200 million dollars in local american rescue plan act funds Many who have never worked with federal money before accepted it With fear anxiety and uncertainty of what it really meant to manage and spend these dollars without final rules for them even being established yet They accepted this money with the hope and promise that their local ARPA money Can unlock and leverage additional grants that would soon follow through the infrastructure investments in jobs act the bipartisan infrastructure law And the inflation reduction act over the last 18 months Communities of all sizes and capacity levels across the state have taken their time been patient and are thinking bigger They understand that if there was ever a moment to be strategic and take advantage of one time money to help make big investments To repair and replace crumbling infrastructure or develop new infrastructure Now is that moment. It's a rare opportunity one that most of us in this room will never see again Towns cities and villages can use their local ARPA money as much needed grant match to leverage other federal dollars Often towns big and small struggle to come up with that grant match But now with ARPA they have it in hand rare They're relying on the state of vermont to pull down its share of federal money That's available now so that we all of us can emerge from this moment stronger and more resilient With so many competing priorities. It's hard to set aside the state's share of grant match But it is critical to do so in this moment if we do not we lose this rare opportunity Crumbling infrastructure itself will not heal New infrastructure to meet our housing crisis climate initiatives and make us safer and more resilient will not just magically appear All of it is necessary if we do it now vermont's win if we do it later vermont's lose We'll put this work off and onto the backs of taxpayers with a growing price tag And we push vermont deeper into a crisis of affordability Our towns cities and villages are waiting for the state to deliver these federal dollars so that they can do their part To make transfer transformational changes in their communities We're grateful to the governor and his administration for the working so hard to bring these dollars to vermont To ensure this happens And at this point i'll pass it to mayor david aller Okay purpose because this is exactly what we did Was setting aside 400 000 dollars from our our allocation of 400 4.5 million dollars For the same reason to have readily available matching funds for state and federal grant opportunities It's a good strategy Whether it's water sewer or stormwater infrastructure Or traditional roads and bridges Good infrastructure can open up so many opportunities for our cities and towns for example Roland has 7.85 million dollars in fine requests on the ballot on town mean To continue our aggressive schedule of infrastructure improvements Which are so vital to our economic development efforts You know as mayor I also know it's important to plan ahead Sometimes you don't see the fruits of your investments you make run away But that doesn't mean they're not worthwhile Since first being elected our dpw commissioners first jeff whiteburn and now jim rotondo Have worked closely with state government to identify projects and available funding from the various sources For our infrastructure needs You know a new government Anticipating needs and being proactive in having a degree a degree of certainty helps people plan That's why it makes all kinds of sense for the state to set aside this money now While we have it in surpluses To ensure we can take full advantage of federal funds in the years to come Where we don't know if state coppers will be as full As the governor mentioned knowing we had projects on the horizon And the funding to achieve them can also help keep people employed, which is so important In the economy moving Moving if we see tougher economic times ahead as many people predict So in close, I believe the state of ramon as well as the citizens of roland will benefit from this strategy As we stretch federal balance as much as we can and plan for the future for our children and grandchildren So thank you again for this opportunity. I appreciate it very much. It's good to see everyone and I will now hand it back to the governor thank you very much mayor and At this point in time, we'll open up to questions You hearing from your colleagues in the legislature a a willingness or a desire not to set aside Match money. I mean, I know the legislature is still building their budget But have you heard of any of them not doing this? I'm hearing a little bit about There are some legislators that are fully supportive of making sure that we have the money We need for a match and then I'm hearing from others Maybe they had other priorities for surplus dollars. So I'm hearing a mix mix response We want to make sure the message is loud and clear. This is very important to me And and I think that it's important to the state of Vermont It's important to our economy to make sure that we have these dollars That we have right now that we can invest in these projects for the future And there's no better time than now to set that aside raises The with all of these infrastructure projects the question about workforce as well. I know that's been Especially for the water sewer and road projects How are we faring and how are we looking as these Money's are coming down the pike in terms of our workforce to build these out Yeah, there's no doubt. We have a workforce shortage in the state. We talk about that a lot But but I will say The industry seems to have been able to keep up In fact, I've heard from some who are looking for work at this point in time So again with a possible downturn in the economy Having this money and making sure there's some predictability in the future some certainty Will keep the economy rolling and I think everyone is wondering How will how will this land? How will the economy land? And when will the inflation stop and when when will we need this and I think I think it's uh has a lot of merit to put it aside and make sure that we're prepared right now um secretary Flynn listed off a number of projects that could face multi-year delays If Vermont is not able to come up with the matches Are you saying that those delays would come to pass if lawmakers don't allocate the match money in fy 24 If we don't have the match money in general Because i'm not sure that we'll have it in the future Because we don't know if we're going to have surpluses We've been very fortunate in the six years. I've been Governor about at least half of them We've had surpluses But previous to that There was a long stretch Where we had no surplus in fact we had deficits And I've been in business. I've been in the state. I've been in this legislature I'm part of this institution for a number of years and business Over three decades in this in in this environment Over two decades. I've seen the ups and downs in our economy and a lot of folks here have not And I know I remember scraping together trying to find match money so that we can move These projects forward and not being able to do it delaying projects as a result again These dollars require a match from the state And if we don't have the match then we don't get to do the projects So I'm very concerned about that. I just want to make sure that we Focus on this because this will give give us and the state certainty that these projects will come to bear I mean we saw the state's infrastructure grades come out last week Kind of emphasizing the need to improve roads bridges Everything that you guys are saying But what does that C grade mean to you specifically? Does it just really enforce what you guys are saying to that? Well, we have done better in a couple of areas. I think our bridges We we increased our rating, which is good news I believe a lot of that and this is maybe the Secretary can weigh in on this as well, but I think that was a result of Irene We received a lot of federal dollars to replace a number of bridges that helped us catch up a bit Again, if not for that federal money, I'm not sure that we'd be in that position today so We rely on a federal funding in the state In almost every way and I think we have to We have to weigh what's happening in Washington at this point We've We've already they've extended themselves quite a bit. I think they're going to be pulling back I think without senator Leahy there as well We won't be receiving a lot of the federal money. We've been we've been counting on over the last few years So all of that together brings me to the point where If we have the money now Let's make sure that we invest it in the right way So there's some certainty for the state of Vermont and And I'll say again areas In cities like Rutland for instance with some of the oldest water infrastructure in the state Some of that mayor. I think it's over 100 years old if I remember right Are you 25 actually? Yeah So so again, it's exceeded its useful life And this will give us what we need it won't catch us up We'll still need to continue Making these investments with our own state money and with regular Federal money that comes our way But this will help us advance and and maybe next time with the The engineers coming out with their their grading that maybe we'll move up the ladder again Do you want to talk about that at all anything? Thanks governor specific to the Pavement condition road condition and bridge report in the engineering study released last week The agency of transportation has a very Thorough and robust asset management program And it it is driven to help us choose the right projects at the right time In the right place if you will to Repave or to redec bridges and things like that So we are fortunate to be far ahead of the national average on bridge deficiency rating And we I think have 28 percent of our pavement in Vermont is poor or or very poor Which is an improvement, but it's not good enough because if that's where you live It's a hundred percent of your experience and we recognize that But the other thing I would say is Infrastructure you never reach a static completion It everything is deteriorating right now as we talk Every road we repaved five years ago is deteriorating So I think one of the things that the governor is trying to point out is this opportunity for this historic uptick in funding To to make us able To get so much more done than we would otherwise Is really just something that We should capitalize on unrelated, but uh town meeting date rate is coming up Week to week sessions swine by how how what's your assessment of As you mentioned lots of new lawmakers new energy in the building. How how is this session Going for you and some of your priorities? Well again, um, a lot of the budget adjustment The the dollars that we put forth in that Were included. That's the good news. There were some areas that we have We saw as problematic and they're working their way through that right now. I'm hopeful That we'll be able to come to agreement in the end on that so Getting the budget adjustment pass is important before town meeting break And then we'll see. I mean, there's some other good news. I mean, let's talk about good news for a bit The housing bill that the senate passed out of committee That's a great bill. It has a lot of attributes We'll see what happens to it when it goes through natural resources And gets through appropriations and then goes over to the house But at this point in time, it's a strong bill moving in the right direction So there are a number of initiatives that that have been I see as positive But we have a long ways to go and I there's some you know, there's some storm clouds on the horizon What have you made about the affordable heat act? There's a storm cloud that I'm seeing Again, I as you know, I vetoed the Clean heat standard last year for a variety of reasons one of them being that it went to the public utility commission Without coming back to the legislature for full review and passage as a as a bill And it appears that's moving as it came out of the senate natural resources Moving that same direction. So I'm I'm very concerned about that I think in these times, I think again for monitors are looking for more certainty And this gives them anything but certainty in the future and I'm just Not convinced that we're prepared We have the same goals But but I think their timeline Is very aggressive and and I'm not sure it's attainable, especially after Coming back. I think we talked about this last week In the press conference about my experience at the national governance association Being part of of one task force Looking at the grid in particular And I'm not sure we have the capacity at this point in time to do that and I again I think about they're all worthy goals But when you become More pragmatic and and look at the practical aspect of this take for instance If you have a Someone living in a mobile home, for instance Paying six bucks a gallon right now for kerosene Because they have above ground fuel tanks And it has to be a lighter grade so it doesn't freeze So they're already paying a buck more than number two fuel at least So they're going to continue to pay that money unless And it could be more because their fuel supplier Now has to buy appears would have to buy some credits Which will cost money They'll have to pass that on to customers. So this person in the mobile home Will have to pay more money for fuel unless of course They decide to put in a heat pump or they get a A vehicle that It's electric and but when you think about like a Typical mobile home or a house that's been built pre 1972 which there are a lot of them in vermont They all have 60 amp services to have a heat pump and To to charge up your vehicle You're going to need a minimum of a hundred amp service In that in that in your home So you take a mobile home. For instance, this may be valued at $8,000 and you ask an electrician to put in retrofit a new Box a hundred amp box or or bigger It's going to cost thousands of dollars Thousands of dollars that person doesn't have And so when you start working your way through How we get there? I don't know if they've done the math And I'm just not sure That this isn't putting pressure on the very very people you're trying to help