Senate Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy

Bill would help 30 million Americans—including nearly 100,000 Vermonters— access rural housing assistance for the first time  WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, today joined U.S. Senators Jim Justice (R-W.Va.), Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Members of the Senate Agriculture Committee, in introducing the Fostering the Availability in Rural Markets of (FARM) Home…

Bicameral bill would help homeowners make energy efficiency, clean energy upgrades  WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, joined U.S. Senator Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and U.S. Representatives Kevin Mullin (D-CA-15) and Mike Levin (D-CA-49) in introducing the E-Access Act of 2026, bicameral legislation…

WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Committee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, joined the Fiber Broadband Association (FBA) for a public policy summit to discuss forward momentum in the deployment of fiber broadband networks to ensure digital equity and enable every community to…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, alongside U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), today reintroduced the Rural Innovation for a Stronger Economy (RISE) Reauthorization Act, bicameral legislation to reauthorize and improve the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) RISE Program. U.S. Representatives Shomari…

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Ranking Member of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Rural Development, Energy, and Credit, alongside U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and U.S. Representative Elise Stefanik (R-NY-21) introduced the Lake Champlain Basin Program Enhancements Act, bipartisan, bicameral legislation that would reauthorize the Lake Champlain Basin Program (LCBP) for five years at $35…