The House Appropriations Committee on March 21 approved a committee substitute that removes line-item appropriations and tax-credit language from H.479, the House general housing bill, and makes several statutory duties contingent on funding in the fiscal 2026 budget. The committee also voted to report H.167 — the Vermonters Feeding Vermonters measure — as amended so the program exists in statute but will not be implemented until funding is provided.

The change to H.479 was embodied in a substitute amendment (draft 1.1) presented to the committee. Cameron Wood of the Office of Legislative Counsel described the amendment as a package that “remove[s] all of the appropriations, including the tax credits,” and explained the substitute would defer those funding decisions to the budget process. The amendment also replaces an earlier Ways and Means recommendation by sunsetting certain tax credits and removing a municipal 1% local-option tax authority on short-term rentals, as incorporated into the committee substitute.

Why it matters: The committee’s action preserves statutory policy language while moving decisions about actual dollar allocations — and any revenue impacts from tax credits — into the committee’s forthcoming budget work. That separates policy direction from appropriation authority and keeps the line items available for negotiation in the FY2026 budget process.

Key provisions removed or made contingent. The committee substitute did the following in committee discussion:
- Struck a $15,000 appropriation in the Universal Design Study Committee section and added contingent language that per diems would be available only if an FY2026 general fund appropriation to the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) is made for that purpose.
- Deleted the section authorizing tax credits (section 6 in the underlying bill) and inserted a placeholder indicating the section is deleted in the substitute.
- Incorporated Ways and Means’ change to remove the municipal 1% short-term rental tax authority.
- Struck a $250,000 appropriation in the VHFA off-site construction report section and added language making the duty to implement that report contingent on an FY2026 appropriation to DHCD that would be granted to VHFA.
- Removed sections authorizing new positions and the associated appropriations (sections 20 and 21 in the original draft) and renumbered the remaining effective-date section.

In committee discussion, staff and members examined how the house bill’s appropriations compare with the governor’s recommended budget. James Duffy provided a line-item comparison and told the committee that the H.479 appropriations were roughly $25,746,000 greater than the governor’s recommended FY2026 housing items. “The difference was about $25,746,000,” Duffy said, and staff circulated a table that broke down the variance by line item.

Committee members and counsel emphasized that the substitute does not eliminate policy language; rather, it removes the financings so the committee can consider the money during budget deliberations. Cameron Wood told members that some items previously recommended by Ways and Means — such as sunsetting tax credits and removing the municipal short-term rental tax authority — were preserved where appropriate in the substitute so Ways and Means’ work would be respected.

Vermonters Feeding Vermonters (H.167). The committee also considered H.167 and the same approach: the committee approved language making the program statutory but contingent on appropriation. A staff presenter explained that, if the statute is enacted with the contingency language, “the program will be in statute … and the agency would not have to implement it until it had received funding.” The committee approved the draft 1.1 amendment for H.167 and then approved the bill as amended.

Votes at a glance. The committee approved the substitute amendment and reported both bills out of committee by roll-call votes recorded as 11–0–0. The committee first voted to approve amendment draft 1.1 for H.167, then approved H.167 as amended; later the committee approved the Appropriations Committee substitute to H.479 and reported H.479 as amended. (Individual roll-call names were read on the record; the committee recorded unanimous approval on both measures, 11–0–0.)

What the committee did not decide. Committee members said no final budget allocations were set in this meeting; the substitute intentionally defers dollar decisions to the FY2026 budget review. Members also noted that some items discussed in H.479 may be acted on later or included in separate budget adjustments.

Next steps. Committee staff said they would confirm with the chair of House Ways and Means that replacing that committee’s amendment with the Appropriations substitute was acceptable; staff also flagged a small number of drafting and procedural items that may require attorney review before final printing. The Appropriations Committee will consider budget figures and related policy choices during upcoming budget sessions.