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Committee sets reporting deadlines, caps April budget proposals and discusses hotel use and rulemaking timeline
Summary
Committee members clarified reporting deadlines (January 15 and April 1), agreed that April budget submissions should not exceed January proposals, discussed goals to reduce reliance on hotel and motel rooms as shelter, and recommended beginning rulemaking before the statute’s effective date to avoid implementation delays.
A Vermont committee reviewing H.91 clarified reporting deadlines, budget constraints between preliminary and final reports, and operational expectations for emergency shelter and use of hotel and motel rooms.
Legislative staff read draft reporting language that requires community action agencies to submit a preliminary needs-assessment progress report by Jan. 15 and a comprehensive regional needs assessment and implementation plans by April 1. The draft also says the statewide organization shall submit separate reports and that the April submissions “shall not exceed the budgetary proposals provided in the 01/15 progress report.” Committee members and staff worked to tighten that sentence to prevent the April report from proposing higher spending than the January request.
The draft calls for annual departmental goals to increase shelter and permanent supportive housing capacity and to reduce reliance on hotels and motels as emergency housing as shelter capacity increases in each region. The draft requires the department to report annually, as part of its budget presentation, proposed hotel and motel rates for approval by the General Assembly and says community action agencies may not pay more than the rate approved by the legislature.
Committee members discussed allowing the department to begin rulemaking before the chapter’s effective date so program rules and public processes are in place when statutory duties begin. A department representative supported starting rule development early to avoid delays caused by the standard rulemaking timeline.
On data collection, members proposed additional reporting metrics, including employment status and income sources for households served, numbers moved into permanent housing and bed counts by type, and inventories of subgrants. Several speakers asked that reporting capture whether people served are recipients of Social Security or SSI and track households’ employment status over time; staff said the department and DCF would work on precise language and data feasibility.
The committee paused drafting to receive a revised bill the next day and scheduled continued review. No vote or final adoption of reporting or rulemaking authority was recorded in the meeting.
