The House Appropriations Committee on March 21 reviewed and provisionally closed multiple pieces of budget language for the fiscal 2026 package, including new reporting and reversion requirements for ARPA funds, an analysis of funding structures for Vermont community-based organizations, and direction on Agency of Digital Services funding for a service-model transition.

Committee members and staff said the packet bundles technical fixes and policy-directed reporting that the panel will fold into the broader budget bill. Grady Nixon of the Joint Fiscal Office walked the committee through the packet and the section numbers that will be placed into the bill.

The packet includes language from the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions reducing a recommended appropriation for planning transitions of correctional facilities to treatment-focused operations from $300,000 to $200,000. "On page 1, this is language recommended from the House Committee on Corrections and Institutions," Grady Nixon said as he introduced that item, which includes related reporting requirements.

A separate provision would direct the Department of Finance and Management to reserve any unspent general‑fund balance at fiscal year close in a general fund balance reserve for future appropriation rather than creating a separate temporary cash fund. Committee members said the change is intended to provide a single place to "park" surplus balances for later legislative action.

On ARPA funding, the committee approved language that would require quarterly reports to the Joint Fiscal Committee on appropriations made from the ARPA Coronavirus State Fiscal Recovery Fund and would require the Secretary of Administration to report on any ARPA funds that remain unexpended or unencumbered; the reversion language sets an administrative reversion date tied to the fiscal year (discussion referenced July 1). Committee members emphasized that swapped ARPA-to‑general‑fund arrangements are not intended to be permanent and that outstanding appropriations will be reviewed during next year’s budget process.

The committee also approved a request that the Secretary of Administration conduct an analysis of the funding structure of Vermont community-based organizations, listing entities such as area agencies on aging and designated agencies as examples to be studied. Representative Dave Yacarone, who asked for the analysis, told the committee the intent is to identify back‑office business functions—personnel, fiscal, IT—that could be consolidated or shared to produce efficiencies.

On information-technology funding, the committee removed a fixed $10,000,000 placeholder from language directing the Agency of Digital Services (ADS) to move from a service-level‑agreement billing model to a core enterprise service model and replaced the number with an instruction to provide funds consistent with the committee’s decision. Staff explained ADS will request any additional funds needed in the FY26 budget adjustment if the transfer requires more resources.

Other items the committee provisionally closed included: income tax conformity language that is updated annually; an $1,800,000 enterprise-fund appropriation for a business‑to‑business website for the Department of Liquor and Lottery; repeal of the sunset for the State Youth Council; extensions and reporting for multiple human-services items; a delayed implementation window for payment‑reform requirements affecting designated agencies and specialized service agencies (the change was requested by House Health and Human Services and is supported by providers, while the administration opposed the delay); reporting language related to extraordinary financial relief for nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities; and authorization for a VPIC compensation study and consultant costs to be paid from investment funds, with a report due to the Joint Public Pension Oversight Committee by Nov. 15, 2025.

Committee members asked staff to clarify several dates and to convert some draft phrasing (for example, the use of the word "unambiguous" in a plan-submission requirement) into concrete submission standards. Members also asked that ARPA‑swap language reflect a clear reversion point so that swapped funds do not remain indefinitely in appropriations.

The committee did not record roll-call votes in the transcript excerpt; staff and members repeatedly used the phrase "let's close that out" or indicated consensus to advance individual language items, and the chair instructed staff to collate remaining language for later packets and a final vote the following Monday.

The committee indicated it would receive a follow-up packet later the same afternoon and that the Joint Fiscal Office would produce the official bill text and fiscal report ahead of the scheduled vote.

Provisional actions described at the meeting do not constitute final enactment; all language items discussed will be part of the full bill packet that the House will consider and vote on at the committee’s next meeting and during the floor process.