Committee reviews draft to fold Housing Opportunity Program into statewide HEART homelessness initiative

A conference committee debating H.91 on May 28 reviewed a House draft to create the Vermont Homeless Emergency Assistance and Responsive Transition to Housing Program, commonly referred to in the meeting as HEART, and to move the Housing Opportunity Program (HOP) into that statewide framework beginning in fiscal year 2027.

The committee discussed timing, accountability measures, funding protections for current shelter providers during transition and regional governance. Katie, legislative counsel with the Office of Legislative Council, told the committee “this is draft 1.4” and described the principal change as “moving that timeline up by a year” so the HOP transition would begin in fiscal year 2027 instead of 2028.

The change aims to create an integrated system that spans emergency shelter, regional intake and diversion, supportive services and permanent housing, while addressing shelter providers’ concerns about funding and the use of hotel and motel rooms.

Committee members said they heard extensive input during prior work on the bill. Breckwood, a legislator participating in the conference committee, said the House had “took a great deal of written testimony from shelter providers” and that the draft attempts to respond to those concerns by preserving funding levels during the transition period and by building in supports for shelter providers.

Key provisions discussed

- Timeline and scope: The draft consolidates effective dates so that the HEART chapter is created on July 1, 2025, and more substantive program elements take effect by July 1, 2026; the committee discussed allowing some elements to be implemented earlier by mutual agreement between the Department and community action agencies, with 30 days’ notice to affected households and to legislative committees.

- Incorporating HOP: The House draft reintroduces HOP into HEART at the earlier FY2027 timeline; members explained the intent is an integrated approach that brings emergency shelter, prevention, and HOP services into a single statutory framework rather than staging HOP later.

- Protections for current shelter funding: The draft includes legislative intent language that in fiscal years 2027 and 2028 emergency shelter services funded through HOP and other FY2025 sources should be funded at levels “equivalent to or greater than” FY2025 expenditures, to reassure existing providers during the transition. Committee members noted that this is an expression of intent and that actual funding remains subject to future legislative budget decisions.

- Regional advisory councils and representation: Each community action agency (CAA) region must convene a regional advisory council composed of individuals and organizations in the CAA region. The draft moves persons with lived experience of homelessness from a “may” list into required membership and asks councils to reflect racial, socioeconomic, geographic, gender and disability diversity. The bill authorizes modest compensation and reimbursement for nonprofessional members for up to four meetings annually.

- Hotels and motels: The draft reiterates the general assembly’s intent to reduce reliance on hotels and motels for emergency housing and adds a requirement that when hotels or motels are used those placements must be paired with core supportive services defined in the statute (intake, navigation, case management, referrals and others). The bill also generally prohibits use of hotels or motels outside a CAA’s region without department approval or a written memorandum of understanding.

- Department responsibilities and accountability: The Department would be required to consult with CAAs and statewide organizations serving households with domestic violence to develop accountability measures and reporting sufficient for evaluating services, households’ outcomes and the use of grant funds. The draft includes an explicit rulemaking provision referencing reauthorization standards for CAAs and the statewide domestic-violence service organization.

Reporting, data and findings

The draft updates the bill’s findings and reporting references. It cites the Vermont Homeless Management Information System and the annual homeless assessment: as of March 2025 the draft notes 4,971 individuals experiencing homelessness in Vermont, including 1,105 children; the 2023 assessment figure cited was 51 per 10,000 Vermonters experiencing homelessness. The draft shifts annual reporting away from multiple committee briefings toward publication on the department’s website and aligns the report content to core service categories and HMIS-collected income and benefit data. The department’s implementation planning reports are scheduled for October 1, 2025 and January 15, 2026.

Funding and remaining disagreements

The draft contains appropriations language discussed by the committee, including a line that reads “5.6 to DCF to plan for the implementation of HEART,” and language incorporating funding for Bridges to Health. Committee members debated the proposed $10,000,000 transition fund and whether that amount should be reduced; lawmakers and the administration expressed differing views about the appropriate level and whether statutory language should lock in ongoing funding levels or leave decisions to annual budget negotiations. Committee participants noted that any funding commitments remain subject to future legislative appropriations.

Outstanding items and next steps

Committee members agreed to continue negotiations in a small working group and scheduled a follow-up meeting to resolve remaining drafting and funding questions. Several members emphasized they prefer implementation over excessive reporting and asked the department and administration to coordinate on timelines for rulemaking and implementation.

No formal votes or final enactments were recorded during the conference session; the committee proceeded by discussing and revising the draft language, with further agreement sought in subsequent meetings.