{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://balint.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=819", "Vermont Congressional Delegation Announces Over $33.2 Million in Long-Awaited FEMA Funding to Support Flood Buyouts, Hazard Mitigation Across Vermont", "2026-09-14", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "House", "VT", "Becca Balint", "B001318", "balint.house.gov", "balint", "https://balint.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "BURLINGTON, VT \u2013 The Vermont Congressional Delegation, U.S. Representative Becca Balint (VT-AL), U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), today announced the delivery of over $33.2 million in new federal funding, administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), to support flood recovery and resiliency in Vermont.\n\nThis funding includes more than $27.6 million to support the buyout of at least 90 homes across Vermont that are located within a floodplain, at risk of landslide, or sustained irreparable damage from flooding in 2023 and 2024. Families who applied for buyouts will receive compensation for their property from the state of Vermont. The state will then demolish the structure and maintain the land as open green space in perpetuity. The additional $5.6 million in funding will support costs associated with the administration of Vermont\u2019s Emergency Management and future hazard mitigation plans.\n\n\u201cOver the last several years, our office has worked with Vermonters who were uprooted from their homes and left to navigate the complicated FEMA grant-making process while waiting far too long for a path forward,\u201d said Rep. Balint. \u201cFor many families, this funding will bring welcome\u2014though bittersweet\u2014closure after years of uncertainty. It will also provide real economic relief and give communities much needed resources to become more resilient to future flooding. I\u2019m grateful to everyone who kept pushing to get these dollars out the door, and I\u2019ll keep fighting to make sure Vermont gets the federal support it needs to recover and rebuild.\u201d\n\n\u201cFor too many Vermonters, our state\u2019s recent floods are painful memories of homes washed away, livelihoods destroyed, roads and bridges decimated, and sadly, lives lost. There is no good reason that Vermonters should have to wait years to receive the help they need to recover and rebuild when disasters strike. Volunteers, town work crews, rescue teams, state and local employees and fellow Vermonters have done extraordinary work over the past three years to keep our communities safe, and this long-overdue federal funding will help make Vermont more resilient against the future floods and other climate impacts we unfortunately know are coming,\u201d said Senator Sanders.\n\n\u201cTo say that these buyouts are long-overdue is a massive understatement. We have Vermonters whose lives and livelihoods were in limbo for over three years as they waited for FEMA to act. These buyouts are a major step in the right direction, but our work helping folks recover from these floods isn\u2019t over\u2014not by a long shot,\u201d said Senator Welch. \u201cI\u2019ll continue working with federal, state, and local partners to ensure flood-impacted Vermonters gets the support they need and deserve to rebuild their homes and lives.\u201d", 1, "2026-09-16T09:43:13Z", "2026-09-16T09:44:22Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://balint.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=819"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.8382690139114857, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}