Senate committee advances H.91 to shift emergency housing services to regional agencies

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted to report H.91 favorably on May 20 after committee members heard how the bill would transition Vermont’s emergency housing programs into a regionally coordinated model administered by community action agencies.

The bill, introduced and explained by Senator Lyons, would establish a program in statute called the Vermont Homeless Emergency Assistance and Responsiveness Transition to Housing program (referred to in discussion as “v hearth” or similar variants) and move administration of the General Assistance emergency housing functions into five regional community action agencies beginning in fiscal year 2027, with Housing Opportunity Program (HOP) funding and duties intended to be phased into the program in fiscal year 2028. "This bill actually, begins the process of better coordination, for homeless identification and more permanent homes," Senator Lyons said during the presentation.

Katie McLennan of the Office of Legislative Council told the committee the bill is 34 pages and provides the structure and timeline for the transition. Under the proposal, community action agencies in five regions would assume responsibility for administering emergency housing services, supportive services, emergency shelters and extreme weather shelters; an entity experienced in serving households experiencing domestic and sexual violence would continue to provide services for that population. McLennan described required planning steps, regional needs assessments, two report-backs from the Department for Children and Families (DCF) — on Oct. 1 and Jan. 15 — and an April 1 needs-assessment deliverable to the Legislature.

The bill also directs DCF to submit, by Nov. 1, a written plan that would describe an accelerated implementation pathway for legislative consideration; McLennan emphasized the plan would be advisory and would not commit the General Assembly to accelerate implementation. She said fiscal year 2027 is the target for moving General Assistance emergency housing funding into the new program and fiscal year 2028 for folding HOP funding into it.

Committee discussion focused on funding, timelines and operational questions. McLennan and Senator Lyons described a one-time $10,000,000 general fund appropriation in fiscal year 2026 to prepare and build capacity for the transition. The bill specifies distribution of that appropriation as follows: approximately $5,000,000 to DCF to plan and support implementation (which may be distributed to community action agencies), $400,000 to statewide organizations serving households experiencing or who have experienced domestic or sexual violence, $515,000 to the Department of Health to distribute to Bridges to Health for services targeted to people experiencing or at risk of homelessness (including mobile and free-clinic services in the Northeast Kingdom), $1,000,000 for grants to municipalities in collaboration with community action agencies for planning and services, and $3,000,000 to DCF to expand emergency shelter and permanent supportive housing capacity (a subset of which is designated for the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board for infrastructure investments).

Committee members pressed for clarity on several points: which populations are covered by the Bridges to Health funding; how quickly community action agencies can stand up or expand shelter capacity; whether the Housing Opportunity Program would be integrated immediately or phased in; and how much the program would cost in future years. McLennan and DCF staff repeatedly said some details would be resolved through the statutorily required planning, the regional needs assessments, and the agency report-backs to the Legislature. McLennan said the bill “puts in place starting in fiscal year 27... all of the funding and duties associated with the general assistance emergency housing” and that the HOP transition to the new program was scheduled for fiscal year 28.

Committee members and staff cited existing spending levels as context for the proposal. Senator Lyons and staff said the General Assistance emergency housing program expenditures and HOP together represented tens of millions of dollars: "in the GA program, we're spending over $30,000,000," Senator Lyons said, and McLennan and fiscal staff estimated roughly $82,000,000 between the two programs in fiscal year 2025 (with differences in FY26 estimates due to base vs. one-time funding and unspent balances). Committee testimony emphasized that one goal of the change is to reduce reliance on hotel and motel placements by expanding shelter and permanent supportive housing capacity and by coordinating services regionally.

Lily Sojourner of the Office of Economic Opportunity provided a brief overview of OEO’s role and that HOP is OEO’s umbrella program for state homelessness responses. Sojourner confirmed HOP’s current structure and noted the administrative and programmatic differences that will require planning before any transfer of duties.

After discussion, the committee took an official roll-call vote to report H.91 favorably. The recorded vote on the motion to report H.91 was six Senators voting yes (Norris, Watson, Baruth, Lyons, Westman, Brennan); one senator (Pertschlick) was not present for the roll call. Several members said they supported reporting the bill out of committee while reserving judgment for floor debate pending additional information from the implementation planning and fiscal reports.

The bill includes multiple required steps back to the Legislature, specific deliverables intended to inform fiscal-year 2027 implementation and a statutory timeline for folding HOP into the new regional program in fiscal year 2028, all of which were emphasized repeatedly during the hearing. "It's not an easy process... but we're looking forward to seeing some change," a DCF representative said at the close of the discussion.

H.91 is set to be placed on notice for further action later in the week; committee members said additional questions and technical issues would be pursued before floor action.