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Appropriations substitute strips appropriations, tax credits from H.479; committee straw-polled 10-1
Summary
Legislative counsel and the Joint Fiscal Office told Ways & Means the Appropriations Committee substitute for H.479 removed appropriations and tax-credit provisions. The committee conducted a straw poll on the Appropriations amendment (10 yes, 1 no). JFO posted a crosswalk table showing which appropriations moved to the big bill.
The Ways & Means Committee reviewed an Appropriations Committee substitute to H.479 that removes several appropriations and tax-credit provisions from the bill and moves—or omits—them relative to the larger budget vehicle. Legislative counsel Cameron Wood described the substitute as “very straightforward” and said the Appropriations Committee’s recommended substitute strips the appropriations from H.479 and replaces the committee’s prior amendment with the Appropriations language.
Wood said the substitute: removed an appropriation to a design committee and instead added a subsection tying per diem payments to whether the per diems are funded in FY2026; removed the bill’s tax-credit section entirely; removed a municipal 1% short-term-rental tax provision that had been in the committee’s amendment; and stripped a $250,000 appropriation that had funded an off‑site housing construction report by the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA), adding instead that VHFA would not be required to produce the report if it is not funded in the budget.
James Duffy of the Joint Fiscal Office told the committee a document titled “JFO Crosswalk” was posted on the Ways & Means Committee page and shows, column by column, which H.479 appropriations did and did not land in the larger budget bill. Duffy said the crosswalk clarifies which appropriations were omitted, which were reduced, and which were carried into the larger bill.
Committee members confirmed that the two DHFA affordable-housing tax-credit programs and an extension of a payment-assistance provision did not make it into the final budget as introduced. The committee conducted a straw poll on the Appropriations substitute amendment; the chair reported the informal tally as 10 in favor, 1 opposed, 0 abstentions.
Committee members said some tax-credit provisions may appear in other bills that cross over from the Senate and that the larger budget and crosswalk are the best sources to track which line items ultimately received funding. The JFO crosswalk and the Appropriations substitute text were posted to the committee page for member review prior to any formal committee action.
Votes at a glance: Appropriations substitute straw poll — informal: yes 10, no 1, abstain 0.
