Vermont Human Rights Commission tells appropriators HUD cuts and policy changes threaten fair-housing enforcement

Vik Hartman, Executive Director and General Counsel of the Vermont Human Rights Commission, told the House Appropriations Committee on April 22 that recent federal staffing and policy changes have sharply increased demands on the Commission while putting anticipated federal reimbursements at risk.

Hartman said the commission now handles a caseload in which more than half of its complaints are fair-housing matters and that changes at federal civil‑rights agencies — including the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Department of Justice Office for Civil Rights, and the Department of Education Office for Civil Rights — have reduced enforcement capacity and public guidance. He said those federal shifts and lost grant funding have increased pressure on the commission’s small staff to provide intake, complaint drafting, investigation and litigation support.

The commission operates under a cooperating agreement with HUD through the Fair Housing Assistance Program (FAP). Under that agreement, Hartman said, HUD pays an administrative base and supplemental amounts tied to case closures and outcomes. Hartman gave several payment benchmarks used in the FAP system: investigations that reach a determination receive roughly $3,200, filing a lawsuit under the program triggers an $8,000 payment, and administrative base funding has historically ranged in the mid‑teens of thousands of dollars per year. He said the commission has typically closed under 30 housing cases per year and that reaching a threshold of roughly 31 housing case closures would move the office into a higher administrative funding tier.

Hartman told the committee that for fiscal year 2026 the commission budgeted HUD revenue in the low‑six‑figures but that the office has little confidence the federal government will pay out all amounts earned because HUD has cut staff and altered payment policies. He said HUD has informed FAP partners it will not pay for cases involving gender‑identity discrimination and that the commission expects continuing uncertainty about payment of other case types. Hartman also reported that HUD fair‑housing staff layoffs have already affected local operations, including the regional case review and payment‑authorization contacts the commission relied on.

Hartman said the local nonprofit legal services pipeline has been disrupted as well: the HUD grant supporting Vermont Legal Aid’s housing discrimination project and the Community‑based FIP grant for CVOEO have not been renewed, reducing external capacity to assist complainants and shifting more intake and drafting work to the Human Rights Commission.

Committee members pressed for numbers. Hartman said the commission currently has 92 open cases, does not yet count 86 matters in intake waiting for an intake meeting or complaint drafting, and that 46 of the 92 open cases are housing matters. He said about 16 cases are in active litigation and that, in the prior year, about two‑thirds of cases that reached a determination were found to have reasonable grounds of discrimination. He said the office has increased closures during his tenure but is still turning away potential complainants because of limited investigator capacity.

Hartman stressed that the commission intends to continue investigating alleged discrimination regardless of whether HUD pays FAP funds. But he urged the committee to consider the risk that lost federal reimbursements and partner grant cuts will require the state to absorb more costs or face longer delays for complainants.

Committee members thanked Hartman and noted the intersection of staffing, federal funding uncertainty and growing caseloads. Hartman and members agreed that the commission’s ability to pursue investigations and litigation will depend on next year’s federal actions and any state budget choices the General Assembly may make.

Ending: Hartman left the committee with written testimony and offered hard copies to members; the committee concluded the HRC item and moved on to the next agenda presentation.