Representative Alice Emmons, chair of the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions, told the Senate Institutions Committee Friday that her committee moved $7,100,000 from cash into bonded funding in its markup of section 9 of the governor’s proposed capital budget.

"The first one is a big change in terms not money wise, but we moved $7,100,000 over to bonded dollars," Representative Alice Emmons said, explaining the decision grew out of testimony and concerns about tracking projects funded with mixed cash and bond sources.

The House markup reallocated funds across multiple corrections and state‑owned building projects and added language intended to make multi‑year project tracking easier. Emmons said past capital budgets used both cash and bonded dollars on the same projects, which made it difficult for committees to follow spending and project scope over multiple biennia.

A committee member said the change has real budgetary effects at the margin: the committee "lost $7,330,624 out of the capital" as a result of the House adjustments, noting the House and Senate will have separate versions and will negotiate differences. That comment was made during discussion and was not presented as a formal vote or final figure for the Senate.

The markup moved a number of line items or reduced future years' amounts after agency testimony about permitting, design progress and prior unspent balances. Examples discussed in the hearing:

- Corrections HVAC and cooling: Committee members described a multi‑year effort to add full HVAC/air conditioning to several correctional facilities. Emmons said the committee has already appropriated roughly $5,900,000 toward those projects and that about $4.7 million remains available for Springfield, which the committee prioritized first. Cost estimates discussed in testimony were roughly $3 million for Springfield and up to $4 million for Newport, but officials warned that steel and aluminum tariffs and long lead times for air handlers mean construction likely cannot begin until summer 2026. The committee trimmed FY‑2026 and FY‑2027 amounts to avoid tying up cash while procurement and project management plans are finalized.

- Infrastructure to private developments and ACCD cash transfer: The House markup moved some previously proposed bonded infrastructure dollars into cash and then transferred $2,000,000 in cash to the appropriations committee to be administered through the Agency of Commerce and Community Development (ACCD). Emmons said the committee took this step because a pending statewide infrastructure fund (a separate legislative proposal) aims to address last‑mile hook‑ups and similar needs; moving the money to appropriations and ACCD makes it available while the revolving fund proposal advances. Emmons said the committee considered but ultimately did not adopt a narrower grant program structure after testimony from ACCD.

- Historic preservation and small/community grants: The committee restored funding for roadside historic markers that the governor had omitted and increased the building community grant lines that return small capital grants to municipalities and nonprofits. The committee combined two separate human services and education grant lines back into a single program and increased per‑program statewide funding toward $300,000; testimony described typical local grants as capped around $25,000 with a 1:1 match.

- Bennington Monument and other reallocations: The committee reallocated about $419,000 leftover from prior work on the Bennington Monument into an RFP and next‑phase preservation work and increased the line to $525,000 to allow for potential storm damage repairs and an RFP. The markup package includes many targeted reallocations of older unobligated funds, following the committee’s review of projects with money more than two and five years old.

- Waterbury property transfer request: The committee inserted statutory language requested by the town of Waterbury to allow, under conditions, transfer at no cost of a state parcel called the Randall Meadow to the town for flood‑plain remediation and stormwater work. The language requires permits and coordination with the Department of Buildings and General Services (BGS) and preserves the commissioner’s ability to negotiate the farmer’s existing lease.

- Montpelier Capitol Complex and FEMA: Committee members emphasized that significant repair work at the Capitol Complex is contingent on FEMA decisions. Emmons and others said the Legislature’s joint fiscal committee and the two chairs of Institutions retain authority to act on emergency decisions when the Legislature is out of session; the markup added a requirement that the city of Montpelier and the Montpelier Commission for Recovery and Resilience receive updates on planning for flood recovery.

What the committee did not do in this hearing: there were no formal roll‑call votes recorded in the transcript. Most changes were described as reallocations, cuts to future years' amounts, or the insertion of language directing how agencies should manage funds or coordinate with local governments.

Why this matters: committee members said the changes are intended to improve transparency and avoid tying up cash while projects are still in permitting, design or awaiting matching federal funds (including IIJA and ARPA appropriations). Several items — notably corrections HVAC work and capital complex flood recovery — face external constraints (supply chain delays, federal approvals) that the committee said justify staging and reallocation rather than full appropriation of cash today.

What's next: Emmons and Senate chair Wendy Harrison said the House and Senate will have different versions of the section 9 package that must be reconciled during negotiations; appropriations and the Senate markups will determine whether the cash transfer for ACCD and other changes remain in the final capital bill.