House Appropriations Committee reviews final FY25 spreadsheets, discusses $136 million closeout and reserve language

The Vermont House Appropriations Committee met March 24 to review final budget spreadsheets ahead of a planned vote on the FY25 budget and to consider closeout language that would set aside up to $136 million for one-time appropriations and possible federal funding contingencies.

Emily Byrne, Joint Fiscal Office staff, walked members through updated spreadsheets and line-item changes, noting how some appropriations were reclassified to special funds. "So we're assuming there's $136,000,000 from FY '25 that's available for appropriation," Byrne said as she summarized the one-time spreadsheet and related reversions and transfers.

The committee’s discussion emphasized two linked issues: (1) the specific one-time and base appropriation changes shown in the updated spreadsheets and (2) statutory closeout language that would reserve funds while preserving flexibility to respond to potential federal funding changes. The proposed closeout structure would update figures in the budget adjustment act and direct remaining closeout balances into a reserve available for future appropriations to address potential federal funding shortfalls. Under the proposal, while the General Assembly is not in session the Joint Fiscal Committee could recommend transfers to the Emergency Board.

Budget staff highlighted several specific line items discussed during the hearing. Noted adjustments and appropriations included: a $112,000 add for conservation districts (B225); community-provider rate increases totaling about $5.14 million, of which roughly $5 million is accounted for as Global Commitment match and is carried across B301, B314 and B330; a childcare rate change reflected in B318 from 5.5 percent to 4.5 percent; and a reclassification of a $450,000 setup appropriation for a crabbing program (B220) from the general fund to a special fund appropriation so the money is transferred into and appropriated out of a special fund rather than the general fund.

Staff also identified smaller and targeted one-time items on the updated list: $75,000 for urban search and rescue (Department of Public Safety), a split-out $275,000 request for FPR fire apparatus, funding for recovery residences added late in the process, $2.0 million for BHIP, $5.0 million for an unspecified VHCD/BHCB line, and what staff described as "half a billion" for a Vermonters Feeding Vermonters program. The spreadsheet also shows $2.5 million added for Freedom and Unity grants and a $1.0 million transfer to begin implementation of a mileage-based user-fee program at the Agency of Transportation (as labeled in the spreadsheets).

Committee members and lawmakers proposed targeted adjustments to reach a balanced package. A legislator identified as Jim described restoring $650,000 to the state's attorneys' budget that had been cut in an earlier version and proposed shifting $40,000 to create a permanent canine trainer position rather than continuing to use an outside contractor. Jim also said he added $500,000 to the Vermonters Feeding Vermonters line and reduced several other one-time requests (including trimming a radio-equipment one-time request by $120,199 to leave roughly $800,000 in that area). He said those changes produced a net addition of roughly $1,190,000 to the package he brought forward.

On statutory and reserve mechanics, committee staff described the difference between the general fund stabilization reserve (the statutorily required five percent of prior-year appropriations, which staff said is projected near $120 million at the end of FY25) and the general fund balance reserve (the so-called rainy-day fund, estimated around $98 million). Staff also noted a human-services caseload reserve with roughly $94.5 million and a smaller dedicated payroll/Medicaid-smoothing reserve projected at about $14 million at the end of FY25 (with another roughly $5.7 million contemplated in the FY26 budget). Committee members discussed how access to these reserves would be managed, what triggers would prompt legislative action, and the potential credit-rating implications of using reserves.

Grama Nixon, Joint Fiscal Office, described proposed statutory language to relocate certain Office of Health Equity funds and duties into the Department of Health and to add statutory sections that would accomplish the same practical placement as in the governor-recommended bill but with more extensive cleanup. "This is language that was drafted by legislative counsel…there needs to be some more extensive cleanup," Nixon said while walking members through the pages of draft language and the sections it would add to the budget adjustment act.

Byrne told members that, after accounting for known changes, the committee’s working spreadsheets show about $48,790,000 remaining available for one-time appropriations from the FY25 closeout pool. She and other staff cautioned that the committee was carrying certain expenditures as if related revenue changes had passed even though the underlying tax bills had not completed the legislative process; if those revenue measures fail, the available balance would increase and vice versa.

The committee did not record a formal final vote during the portion of the meeting captured in the transcript. Members planned to return after a short break to print updated spreadsheets, finalize web reports and language, and then to reconvene for further action. A time to reconvene of around 2:30–2:35 p.m. was discussed near the end of the recorded session.

The Appropriations Committee directed staff to produce updated spreadsheets and bill language reflecting the discussed adjustments. Staff said they would circulate corrected labels, special-fund classifications, and the closeout language for review before the committee’s next action.