House discussion: proposal would expand Joint Fiscal Committee and Emergency Board authority to respond to federal funding cuts

BRATTLEBORO — The House Appropriations Committee on March 21 heard a proposal to broaden the interim authority of the Joint Fiscal Committee and the Emergency Board to respond when federal funding or state revenue projections fall short.

Representative Emily Kornhauser, chair of the Joint Fiscal Committee and a representative from Brattleboro, told the committee that the change is aimed at giving the Legislature a clearer, more flexible tool to protect priorities during sudden changes in federal funding. "I think you all know probably more than most folks in this building, the tremendous fiscal instability that we are operating in right now," Kornhauser said. She said the package includes a legislative-intent session law, changes to existing rescission authority, and revisions to the state reserve rules.

The draft would add a trigger to the statute that governs rescission-plan authority to allow the JFC to act if a reduction in federal funds results in a 1% or greater decrease in the total funds available to support an appropriation. "So this provides just as you said, in any instance where the reduction in federal funds has the result of reducing in a 1% or more reduction in the total funds available, to support an appropriation," Kornhauser said.