Peter Welch

Welch Introduces Legislation To Close Loophole Used By Verizon In FairPoint Sale

January 26, 2010 --
Rep. Peter Welch and 21 members of Congress introduced legislation late last week to close a loophole that allowed Verizon to avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes when it sold its northern New England landline operations to FairPoint Communications.

The legislation, H.R. 4486, would eliminate the Reverse Morris Trust (RMT) provision of the federal tax code, which is increasingly used by regulated utility companies to avoid paying taxes while divesting of public infrastructure.    » read more »

December 11, 2009 -- With Rep. Peter Welch’s support, the House passed sweeping legislation Friday to reform the nation’s financial regulatory system and prevent another economic meltdown similar to that which launched the ongoing recession.

The Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2009 (H.R. 4173) enacts common sense rules to rein in risky trading, restore transparency and accountability to the financial system, and ensure that financial firms – not taxpayers – foot the bill for potential future bailouts. The bill passed by a vote of 223 to 202.    » read more »

December 07, 2009 -- Ahead of President Obama’s Tuesday speech outlining the Administration’s strategy to create jobs, Rep. Peter Welch on Monday reiterated his call for an immediate, job-creating energy efficiency retrofit program.

“Investing in energy efficiency retrofits is a sure-fire way to create jobs,” said Welch, a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. “As President Obama considers how best to spur our nation’s economy, he should consider the immediate benefits of a national efficiency retrofit program: hundreds of thousands of jobs that cannot be outsourced, millions of homes using less energy and billions saved by homeowners on their utility bills.”    » read more »

Meeting With Energy Secretary Helped Make Vermont’s Case

WASHINGTON -- Oct. 27 -- The Vermont Congressional Delegation – Senator Patrick Leahy (D), Senator Bernie Sanders (I) and Representative Peter Welch (D) – announced Tuesday morning that Vermont Transco, LLC, will receive $68,928,650 in federal support to launch Vermont’s Smart Grid technology.

The funds are part of $3.4 billion in Smart Grid grants across the nation that President Obama announced today – the largest awards made in a single day from this year’s American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.    » read more »

10/19/09 - Rep. Peter Welch called on Congress this week to close a loophole that allowed Verizon to avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes when it sold its northern New England landline operations to FairPoint Communications.

In a letter to House Ways and Means Chairman Charles Rangel, Welch and representatives from New Hampshire and Maine said that Verizon's use of the Reverse Morris Trust (RMT) provision in the federal tax code cost taxpayers without delivering any corresponding public benefit.

As Verizon prepares to spin-off other landline operations throughout the country using the RMT loophole, Welch and his House colleagues warned that other regions could face problems similar to those experienced by FairPoint's northern New England customers since the sale.    » read more »