[{"_1":2,"_87":-5,"_88":-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],{"_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",6352945,"mediaKeyId","2222130-989f234fe7d5fb047fbd263f244ec651","parentId",2222130,"title","Treasurer’s office explains $14 million borrowing for flood recovery, proposes medical debt relief and climate uses for remaining funds","audioSeconds",677,"startMs",2148000,"endMs",2825000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2222130-989f234fe7d5fb047fbd263f244ec651&start=2148&end=2825","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2222130-989f234fe7d5fb047fbd263f244ec651/thumbnail_2148000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6352945/Vermont/Treasurers-office-explains-14-million-borrowing-for-flood-recovery-proposes-medical-debt-relief-and-climate-uses-for-remaining-funds","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6352945-9bdbc58a580f45a8e7f7ed4837d67ca5/orig.mp4?Expires=1773718475&Signature=F8Jz2-6bpVowgPo8KDYft95pW03foxLXHXscVaQhi5hJ4UHgFvTcI8HxQL1A7GdHWKLX-FC9K-k4sowJwUJtOq-FElLrnG9tPUN-SIW~fPbmvcWQ9RWJx3DQo~gxv5dcE~tSjpdt~dzsUjCesN2SipWwfJNyy1KvBsQ0c3sZqN0VPuS6S4MTAWlIfk8rtP9IpRQB8dwRnECwlHQwiPCeyt7BokzpvS3DHxq1MGZ6iXpNW~Dl7yfQS6YLFh6Jc3IdTPRIJTjG7fDP1rPQPuVxRt2HBLv0V1KICf1LZ-KQXz9kATCPcVn0I86XhuKRJlZ2bBOx36H8VjsIn72jp5NlUg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","","date","2025-02-05T07:36:19Z","article","Ashlyn Doyon, director of policy at the Treasurer’s Office, told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 4 that the treasurer’s office originally received a $20 million one‑time appropriation in 2022 to consider buying down outstanding general obligation bonds, but the office “elected not to buy down bonds at that time” after market and cash‑management analysis.

Doyon said the administration subsequently borrowed $14,000,000 of that appropriation for flood recovery and that the emergency board directed the administration to present a plan to repay that amount in the governor’s Budget Adjustment Act. The BAA therefore includes language returning the $14 million to the treasurer’s account, Doyon said.

Treasurer’s office proposals for the remaining funds: Doyon described options the office has been exploring for the remainder of the original $20 million appropriation (roughly $6 million still available). She said the treasurer’s office has discussed:
• A proposed $1,000,000 Trevor Medical Debt Relief Initiative intended to buy down up to $100,000,000 in medical debt (Doyon said the proposal would leverage $1 million to buy down a much larger principal balance owed by Vermonters; specific program mechanics were to be developed and the proposal would require separate legislation). Doyon said the medical‑debt proposal is being advanced in a separate bill and that the treasurer’s office expects committee consideration to start in the sponsor’s committee.

• Climate‑infrastructure proposals, including municipal technical assistance and a potential revolving loan fund seeded to leverage FEMA capital with a 10:1 match (Doyon said she was not yet ready to present final proposals because federal match and FEMA funding guidance were in flux following recent executive actions).

Committee questions focused on authority and timing. Several senators asked why the treasurer’s office kept the funds while exploring alternatives rather than reverting them immediately to the legislature; Doyon said the original appropriation was for bond buy‑down, and timing of bond issuances and market assessment are within the treasurer’s discretion, which changed the office’s approach to holding the appropriation while it evaluated highest‑value uses. Doyon said the treasurer’s office was “okay with” the House Appropriations Committee proposing to allocate the $14 million elsewhere and expected that a portion of the funds would be returned to the treasurer by the BAA while other uses might be adopted through legislative action.

Other treasurer’s office updates presented to the committee included unclaimed property activity (a $4,400,000 increase in the general fund transfer from unclaimed property receipts in the BAA true‑up; about 19,000 claims paid last year and about 17,000 paid in the first half of the current year) and the higher education trust fund (the treasurer reported a 10.2% overall gain for the fund this year and a roughly $1.7 million distribution across the state’s public institutions; the treasurer’s office noted the statute allows a 5% distribution when investment performance supports it and an additional 2% under specified conditions).

The treasurer’s office also summarized state bond ratings (double‑A plus from Moody’s, S&P and Fitch) and said ratings affect borrowing costs for state and quasi‑state borrowers; Doyon noted that the state has not regained a prior AAA rating since a downgrade in 2018 and that maintaining pension funding, reserves and other metrics remains important to ratings agencies. Committee members asked for follow‑up material on bond‑rating drivers and on the treasurer’s office’s recommended uses of the remaining appropriation.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","Senate Appropriations – 2025-02-04 – 1:00PM","oneSentenceSummary","Ashlyn Doyon, director of policy at the Treasurer’s Office, told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 4 that the administration borrowed $14,000,000 of a $20,000,000 treasurer appropriation for flood recovery and that the BAA should return that borrowing to the treasurer’s account.","taxTitle","Appropriations, SENATE, Committees, Legislative , Vermont","taxId",36948,"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},6352950,"Senate panel hears how Vermont handles carry forward and reversions in FY25 budget adjustment act",832,1284000,2116000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2222130-989f234fe7d5fb047fbd263f244ec651&start=1284&end=2116","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2222130-989f234fe7d5fb047fbd263f244ec651/thumbnail_1284000.jpg","/articles/6352950/Vermont/Senate-panel-hears-how-Vermont-handles-carry-forward-and-reversions-in-FY25-budget-adjustment-act","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6352950-7d8587ebf8f066669d2bea1282393cbf/orig.mp4?Expires=1773718475&Signature=jVSTOCSZyRjvP9p-TvEGkvjJ6bUnSzsav6HcKTv9V4rLD4lZsn626Z0269SmK09yOaRAYR6p~uInBYhZfljuWub93B-GaAH3sPxYuFoxHYlkoYwKyOY4uNVnXSOb4g4vI4SoBv~YtWbnieAbN8LUu~75iaksMYdnJrc8VzyyZX2mhmA-aknUjama9ckF4XgEAnQt41VcXpX9gBcb83jqQhexpxly0NhOxWh0CwuozmcBhTBYySvQbAJZuxPvorJCaISLNudz0LcODxi8tcejR0KeMzykADTEuCrSB1EeERv4Nd6JFGSsN2Pi5Oo1FABjwMogzww~tTHSVx0hn7vmYg__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Deputy Commissioner of Finance and Management told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 4 that “when we use the term, reversion in, in law and in practice, what we are referring to are is dollars left in an appropriation at the end of a fiscal year that that is unspent.” The deputy commissioner said the default in statute is that appropriations revert at fiscal year end, but the annual Budget Adjustment Act (BAA) often includes session‑law language allowing specified funds and appropriations to be carried forward into the next fiscal year subject to approval by the secretary of administration.

The deputy commissioner said the carry‑forward process is operationalized by first automatically carrying remaining spending authority forward on July 1, then requiring departments to submit carry‑forward expenditure plans. “We review their plan and then say, yes, we'll recommend the the secretary approve that or no, we won't,” the deputy commissioner said, explaining that the secretary of administration gives final approval and that Finance and Management provides recommendations after reviewing department plans.

Why it matters: carry forward and reversion decisions determine whether unspent balances remain available for a department to finish multiyear projects or are reclaimed and reallocated by the legislature. The deputy commissioner said carry forward is commonly used for one‑time appropriations and multiyear projects, while reversion is applied when programs have ended or funds are no longer needed.

Key details and examples cited to the committee:
• Vermont Department of Labor: Finance and Management is recommending an $8,000,000 reversion tied primarily to the availability of prior federal ARPA funding that had offset general fund spending on UI administration. The deputy commissioner said DOL’s large unspent general fund balance reflected previous years’ federal funds and delays in reconciling DOL’s legacy financial system: “we were able to find out how much money they had definitively, you know, through their system.”

• Office of Health Equity: an earlier one‑time appropriation for community grants remained unspent in the secretary of administration’s office because the Health Equity Advisory Commission had not yet completed required steps. The deputy commissioner said the administration is recommending that the unspent general fund balance be reverted and then re‑appropriated to the Vermont Department of Health (VDH), which has been identified as the program’s long‑term home.

• Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) grant: the BAA initially included carry forward of $8,431,000 for a VHFA grant, but Finance and Management later identified a $3,000,000 payment from the state’s self‑insurance liability fund (a July 1 payment related to the ED5 settlement) that required an offsetting general fund transfer; Finance and Management reverted $3,000,000 from the VHFA appropriation to fund that transfer.

The deputy commissioner gave aggregate figures: about $514,000,000 in general‑fund appropriations have been recommended for carry forward to continue planned expenditures, while the administration recommended roughly $18,900,000 in reversions, of which more than $13,000,000 are from base appropriations and about $5,600,000 are from one‑time appropriations.

Committee members asked procedural questions about where reverted dollars go, and the deputy commissioner clarified that reversions drop back to the balance of the fund in which the appropriation was made rather than automatically becoming general fund revenue unless a statutory transfer to the general fund is triggered for obsolete special funds. The deputy commissioner also described safeguards meant to prevent routine base budget reductions by carrying forward base appropriations: if an unspent base appropriation appears to reflect staff vacancies rather than a one‑time need, Finance and Management will typically not approve carry forward for base uses unless a specific one‑time purpose is documented.

The deputy commissioner emphasized that legislative action is required to reappropriate reverted funds for a different purpose than the original appropriation, which is why reversions and recommended appropriations are presented together in the BAA. The presentation to the committee was intended to explain statutory defaults, the session‑law carry‑forward authorizations that operate annually in the BAA, and several large, specific items that warranted committee attention.

Committee follow‑up: senators asked for locations of the BAA carry‑forward language (the deputy commissioner referenced FY24 BAA language and noted a section 80 citation was on the materials presented) and for additional detail where the administration was recommending reversions or carry forward. The committee did not take formal votes during the presentation.

The deputy commissioner concluded by offering to answer additional questions and noting Finance and Management will continue to work with departments on reconciliation and carry‑forward plans ahead of final BAA action.","Deputy Commissioner of Finance and Management told the Senate Appropriations Committee on Feb. 4 that “when we use the term, reversion in, in law and in practice, what we are referring to are is dollars left in an appropriation at the end of a fiscal year that that is unspent.”","actionData","errors"]

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Treasurer’s office explains $14 million borrowing for flood recovery, proposes medical debt relief and climate uses for remaining funds

Senate panel hears how Vermont handles carry forward and reversions in FY25 budget adjustment act