[{"_1":2,"_111":-5,"_112":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,75,87,99],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},"mediaId",6360913,"mediaKeyId","2171670-d2585a9593f45ac4da5216093b678f69","parentId",2171670,"title","Administration seeks authority to \"cure\" remaining ERA2 funds and swap federal/state dollars to avoid treasury recoupment","audioSeconds",463,"startMs",3255000,"endMs",3718000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2171670-d2585a9593f45ac4da5216093b678f69&start=3255&end=3718","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2171670-d2585a9593f45ac4da5216093b678f69/thumbnail_3255000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6360913/Vermont/Administration-seeks-authority-to-cure-remaining-ERA2-funds-and-swap-federalstate-dollars-to-avoid-treasury-recoupment","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6360913-512e81129514af08a45b4dcd71da260b/orig.mp4?Expires=1771171543&Signature=a2DOOg0mXrNgm8b6OnJxpgg40spN8A3r7i5pUcL-UWLjD-ezkYa5-YIqHfgKl5bDTXHG0qiBTlnzD~WZZrj1FhHuNl3IHr7NlS0-WeyARNIExZjOp~HgrB4T7CcjEVDtftpt5Qt8g-XqQvWVxHtfFY9spjw7nZI82l-adR1h7sqW-taTVY2WoVYKsyYy2dpNvrL7C-J3QTcxKI4Xo1FZHOCtBJC3RGS5-OdYPPW-tSgLmUNwhYQocgdrJfY87wjboQPKyF6LRatwpeLbRCpHu-yWsjiAMDp~Ga8mfuKIHWFhCVZ1zDIUnKtiyfsJ7-qScWqys~c-uzZ1deHEtmox-Q__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-01-30T18:02:25Z","article","Douglas Farnham and administration staff told the committee that the state holds about $14.3 million in remaining Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA2) federal funds from a larger $152 million grant and that Treasury guidance has raised recapture risk for some prior expenditures.

Farnham said Treasury has issued strict guidance and that several states faced large recoupment demands; Vermont’s ERA2 program used some funds for affordable housing repairs and rental assistance. Treasury later questioned some uses and could assert that up to roughly $8–9 million of the remaining balance may be at risk; Farnham said the administration’s plan is to “cure” those higher‑risk amounts by identifying other federal‑eligible uses for the remaining ERA2 balance and then replace the originally used funds with general funds so the overall program intent is preserved and federal recapture risk is reduced.

Farnham described “curing” as a swap: spend eligible federal funds that remain in ways Treasury will accept, and backfill the prior high‑risk uses with general fund appropriations so the legislative intent of the original programs is preserved. He said the ERA2 grant’s period of performance ends Sept. 30, 2025, so the administration needs authority this spring/summer to reconcile and fully spend eligible federal funds before that deadline.

Administration staff said Treasury has taken aggressive recapture actions against other states in late 2024 and that the state has already spent about $4 million on affordable housing repairs and roughly $4 million on rental assistance amounts for which file documentation may be incomplete. The administration estimated it may need to move roughly $8–9 million of the remaining $14.3 million to fully reconcile and protect the federal balance; final reconciliation will be completed during summer 2025.

Farnham and committee staff explained this is not a request for new net federal money but a statutory authorization to perform the swap (use remaining federal ERA2 funds on eligible expenses, replace previously questionable federal expenditures with general fund) so the state can avoid recapture and preserve legislative priorities for housing and rental assistance.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","House Appropriations - 2025-01-30 -1:00PM","oneSentenceSummary","Administration officials told the House Appropriations Committee they seek statutory authority to \"cure\" remaining Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA2) federal funds by swapping federal balances into clearly eligible uses and replacing prior high‑risk uses with state general fund, reducing risk of U.S. Treasury recoupment.","taxTitle","Appropriations, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committees, Legislative , Vermont","taxId",30573,"location","Vermont","headline","shortSummary",{"_33":76,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":77,"_41":78,"_43":79,"_45":80,"_47":81,"_49":82,"_51":83,"_53":84,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":85,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":86,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6360918,"State asks committee to expand use of $15M reserved for FEMA denials and repurpose $30M for disaster match",218,2203000,2421000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2171670-d2585a9593f45ac4da5216093b678f69&start=2203&end=2421","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2171670-d2585a9593f45ac4da5216093b678f69/thumbnail_2203000.jpg","/articles/6360918/Vermont/State-asks-committee-to-expand-use-of-15M-reserved-for-FEMA-denials-and-repurpose-30M-for-disaster-match","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6360918-58f0707cdd05b23b09c43471b3369376/orig.mp4?Expires=1771171543&Signature=FBAIBaXaANgvtwyFWgbpsI9VJD8cw2NWlNCcCJSaQZR3J6GRchg40~4E~rpe777kvNZC1k1HE1e9MHF5WajtVJcYtSgI4ikUktTAaXF~BAX5CJulHbMzGsAhp~8XI9pKHnEZEfXgZCErVaEfgdG-X9QUmchn-mj-QT-BZOVsPRBCTF3fCnstqYND-7xeyZ8RjnkVora0Tuk9BHaKiHeyi0qsyU4gwzFPX0mhi9Hlayk4qU-fR5107E~zFoR4r4HQQ3ocK0tlDuh7lcc0TArzFze10KxG-X6W2kXtaCxAZ1s3x-NFkEDEPYYJRm9S-4dWy~2SHvKarA8zUF0lLI55Wg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Douglas Farnham, the state’s chief recovery officer, told the House Appropriations Committee that the administration seeks to broaden the permitted uses of two prior general‑fund set‑asides related to disaster recovery.

Farnham said $15 million that was being held to cover potential FEMA denials stemming from COVID-era spending could be used, in part, for administrative costs related to flood recovery and to sustain limited‑service positions as ARPA-funded positions reach planned end dates. He said the bulk of the $15 million would remain available for potential FEMA denials, but the administration proposes language expanding allowable uses so the funds can also cover certain administrative and case‑management costs while FEMA closeouts continue.

On the $30 million general‑fund appropriation set aside last year, Farnham described it as intended to cover the non‑federal share (state match) for disaster‑related capital repairs, including damage to the state’s capital complex and other state‑owned structures. He said initial aggregate damage estimates produced an expected match need of roughly $37 million (derived from larger estimated damages) and that federal negotiations, particularly with FEMA, are ongoing and will take time; the capital complex negotiation alone carries significant uncertainty.

Farnham said some of the $30 million could be used to cover the state’s share of Federal Highway Administration and EPA match requirements that otherwise would fall to affected state agencies’ budgets. He described the $30 million as a transparent single appropriation to track non‑federal disaster spending instead of scattering match obligations across agency budgets.

Committee members asked about urgency. Farnham said the $15 million language is more time‑sensitive because administrative costs and ARPA-funded limited‑service positions are being incurred now; the $30 million repurposing could wait for the regular budget (BAA) discussion if the committee prefers.

Farnham said Guidehouse and contracted staff have supported FEMA negotiations and municipal assistance and that the state has hired additional limited‑service staff to supplement core capacity. He noted that FEMA interest begins 30 days after the federal government issues a debt notice, which creates urgency to have funds available to respond to possible denials or recoupment demands.

Farnham provided several numeric clarifications: he estimated less than $1 million in FEMA denials had been recorded so far, that roughly $4 million of the $15 million might be used for administrative costs (including sustaining limited‑service positions), that the $30 million remains largely unspent (about $28 million remaining), and that the administration is tracking about 140 Vermonters still actively seeking recovery assistance from the floods.","Douglas Farnham, the state’s chief recovery officer, asked the committee to expand allowable uses of a $15 million general‑fund reserve (held for potential FEMA denials) to pay some administrative and case‑management costs as FEMA closeouts continue, and described plans to repurpose a $30 million disaster appropriation as an easier-to-track match fund for multiple federal programs.",{"_33":88,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":89,"_41":90,"_43":91,"_45":92,"_47":93,"_49":94,"_51":95,"_53":96,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":97,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":98,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6360923,"State chief performance office outlines training, communities and new performance-measure dashboard",1273,102000,1375000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2171670-d2585a9593f45ac4da5216093b678f69&start=102&end=1375","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2171670-d2585a9593f45ac4da5216093b678f69/thumbnail_102000.jpg","/articles/6360923/Vermont/State-chief-performance-office-outlines-training-communities-and-new-performance-measure-dashboard","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6360923-92d3d0d5bc883c725c402ea88b08f4d2/orig.mp4?Expires=1771171543&Signature=AOtF~XNt3YaXTJyczRSkaSjqPhCy2rFC3ajFlsqJHjiafpuEOkDBw4VYD8OBtd1k~jZQO1NkX1HqePT8FD-5wt4MxK1RJo291FmNkj9CfBa--DHrwVBiBsIn8oPSQoZ08tyLfF6CLEwWTJOIWNdtrTuKqJqLA6g9ZW8L3OYAonbvrzAF1A5ZrfTf5dlRA1KahTbe8JBmjG0oxybnfvKcPcKJSfFCjjVBmYMXAb9xRlxpdQ0YSnvJJXSWsD9z6YwBZ-n93vb7wfapWP1SoFSoSyhvADfsT6SQ9IU2j4JS-7l1-yAPnK0Vxh15zuzpFue-qNABrSaSFUJPtSII956Sxg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Justin Kenny, the state’s chief performance officer, and Katie Bockle, state director of performance improvement, told the House Appropriations Committee on Jan. 30 that their two‑person office supports performance management across state agencies by offering training, one‑on‑one consultation and online communities of practice.

Kenny summarized the office’s mission as enabling “state government to better solve problems, manage operations, and improve results.” He said the office provides a 35-course continuous improvement curriculum, a new technology training track launching next week (starting with Microsoft Excel, then SharePoint, Power Automate and Power BI), and three Microsoft Teams-based communities of practice for continuous improvement, technology and government-specific topics.

The office also publishes an annual programmatic performance-measure budget report that combines two statutory strands: Act 186 (2014) population-accountability reporting and budget form performance-measure requirements. Kenny demonstrated the report’s interactive dashboard, which the office redesigned after feedback from the Joint Fiscal Office to add context and better navigation.

Kenny said visitors to the dashboard can view performance measures by program or appropriation, see polarity (whether higher or lower values indicate better performance), recent values, targets and a year‑over‑year percentage change with a simple red/green visual indicator. He noted that judiciary and most Agency of Human Services measures are published in separate systems and are linked from the dashboard.

Kenny and Bockle described usage and reach: the continuous improvement network includes about 1,500 members; the tech hub has just over 3,000 members; and in the office’s largest training year to date, 620 unique voluntary participants took courses. Kenny estimated Vermont state workforce size at roughly 8,000–9,000 employees (excluding K–12 educators). The consolidated report currently lists 220 programs and 677 measures (excluding judiciary and Agency of Human Services data).

On limitations and next steps, Kenny said the state lacks a centralized performance‑management system: “Everybody’s doing it differently,” he told the committee, noting that collections arrive in Excel, SharePoint or Power BI and he currently consolidates them into a dashboard. He said the office plans to encourage a culture of performance management by embedding model lines of program-level measurement, offering targeted practicums and building more automated data collection processes.

Committee members asked whether the work is time-consuming and whether the state should emulate other states. Kenny said Washington state provides a good model but noted differences in scale and staffing. He added that better automation and consistent data management would reduce the manual work needed to compile the report and improve ongoing monitoring.

Kenny said the office is responsible for collecting and consolidating measures, while the programs (the “grantees, programs and agencies”) remain owners of their measures and should be the contact for substantive questions about trends. The dashboard includes agency contacts for follow-up questions.

The office asked the committee to consider statutory and budget language changes to promote more widespread use of the outcomes and to allow legislators and staff to more easily find and use population- and program-level indicators. Kenny referenced H.67 as a bill that could support expansion of the annual population‑level outcomes report.","Chief Performance Officer Justin Kenny and State Director of Performance Improvement Katie Bockle briefed the House Appropriations Committee on the office’s training programs, communities of practice and an updated interactive programmatic performance-measure dashboard that consolidates 220 programs and 677 measures across state government.",{"_33":100,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":101,"_41":102,"_43":103,"_45":104,"_47":105,"_49":106,"_51":107,"_53":108,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":109,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":110,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":56,"_74":56},6360912,"Health Department seeks extension to spend one‑time hub-and-spoke opioid funding",158,4115000,4273000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2171670-d2585a9593f45ac4da5216093b678f69&start=4115&end=4273","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2171670-d2585a9593f45ac4da5216093b678f69/thumbnail_4115000.jpg","/articles/6360912/Vermont/Health-Department-seeks-extension-to-spend-onetime-hub-and-spoke-opioid-funding","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6360912-5e641dc5d857489a5deb616ee41e1996/orig.mp4?Expires=1771171543&Signature=LYK62pGWcaIxoU36sfhXz4NM57ykdWKaRaxopaVSEbc2F6Cj5ru96sDpbxM8u6OBrHKxiOekJXrseNvUV6-~zPEKT~5qnM1j-J6k8LWlJIuKcMWH1P-4xHeGFMNvSB2Z1QXPIeg2a3s2DrdswXvXPoD5nj5AoBYxZkKS~9PhRgp6Bn6nmiPQDC4A0wPre6m8ReP0sM1rzGb~ev-IZzSLNfVV79qL7Bt-O5SU6S-V4gQn691ubjCvumVED5YRbE3fWAKFnseCQG7eyXC7vpkjx17I06uMhoOFX01M5xTaPLzQjpQ87pX6ANOIDP8fRnpRulZKmtjXQHyESoZs9ooUug__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Paul Daly and Megan Hoch, financial directors at the Department of Health, told the House Appropriations Committee that the department seeks an extension of the period to spend a one‑time appropriation for the department’s hub‑and‑spoke specialized opioid treatment program.

The department said startup delays prevented spending within the original fiscal year window; the requested language in section E31121 (page 32 of the administration’s submission) would extend the deadline so the funds remain available while the program completes startup and deploys the additional fee intended for specialized opioid treatment providers.

Daly said that the extension is administrative and not strictly necessary to place in the BAA; the committee may handle it in the fiscal‑year‑26 budget or in the current BAA at its discretion. Department staff indicated the extension is intended to ensure the funds can be used as intended after the later-than-anticipated startup.

No formal vote or action was taken during the Jan. 30 meeting; the department thanked the committee for hearing the request.","Health Department financial directors Paul Daly and Megan Hoch told the committee the requested language (E31121) would extend the period to use a one‑time appropriation for the hub‑and‑spoke specialized opioid treatment program, which was delayed at start-up and could not be spent in the originally anticipated fiscal year.","actionData","errors"]

Article not found

Administration seeks authority to "cure" remaining ERA2 funds and swap federal/state dollars to avoid treasury recoupment

State asks committee to expand use of $15M reserved for FEMA denials and repurpose $30M for disaster match

State chief performance office outlines training, communities and new performance-measure dashboard

Health Department seeks extension to spend one‑time hub-and-spoke opioid funding