House Corrections & Institutions subcommittee trims, reallocates items in capital bill draft, finds $1.8 million

The House Corrections & Institutions subcommittee on Thursday, March 13 reviewed a revised Joint Fiscal Office spreadsheet for the two-year capital bill and approved a series of line-item trims and reallocations that the staff say net $1,800,000 in additional funding compared with the governor’s recommendation.

The subcommittee’s review centered on a spreadsheet prepared by Scott Moore of the Joint Fiscal Office that reorganized the governor’s recommendation into new line numbers, split FY26/FY27 bonded and cash columns, and added the House’s proposed changes. Moore told the committee the spreadsheet is intended to be a working document and will be updated with Senate recommendations later.

Committee members and staff used the sheet to reallocate several prior-year project balances into active needs. Among the specific changes recorded: a $58,000 reallocation to an uninterruptible power supply upgrade at the Middlesex facility (bringing that project’s total recorded expenditure on the sheet to $308,279), a $200,000 trim to the Saint Albans Northwest State Correctional Facility roof replacement (from $1.2 million to $1.0 million in FY26 bonded), and added funding for the Bennington Battle Monument (a $525,000 addition and a separate $25,000 for roadside historic markers, totaling $550,000 assigned in the House spreadsheet).

Moore said the subcommittee identified about $5.2 million in bonding and cash to take back from previous projects or surpluses and reallocate to other lines. The committee’s adjustments moved some dollars between cash and bonded accounts to preserve appropriations committee needs; the net effect on the two-year project total is an increase from the governor’s $126,973,331 to the House subcommittee’s $126,306,387 in projects and a separate funding-side reconciliation that the subcommittee reported as $128,135,011 in available funding, producing roughly $1.8 million “to the good,” most of which is bonded capacity.

Committee members discussed several categories where the accounting required further follow-up. Staff and members flagged the 3-acre compliance and infrastructure funding, noting that last year’s capital bill included multiple lines for the three-acre projects and that they need updated permitting and expenditure information from agencies. Members also directed staff to check on open-bond vote results at the municipal level, which can affect timing of state cash flows to projects such as drinking-water and clean-water revolving loan projects.

The subcommittee agreed by consensus to a few notable program-level adjustments: record the Department of Corrections HVAC request at $4.0 million in FY26 bonded (the committee had discussed $5.0 million but “marked it at 4”), and consolidate three previously separate “3‑B” housing lines into one $2.0 million cash line described as a housing assistance grant, with staff to draft the final bill language and parameters. Members said they intend to swap equivalent cash and bonded lines as needed to keep the appropriations committee whole and to ensure funds are useable under statutory restrictions for bonded versus cash spending.

Members and staff repeatedly emphasized the spreadsheet’s living status. Moore said each saved revision will carry an up‑to‑the‑minute timestamp to help the committee track changes. Committee members asked staff to follow up with agencies on specific project status — for example, permits and encumbrances for three‑acre projects, readiness of fish and wildlife RFPs, and whether prior-authorized funds remain unspent — before the bill is finalized.

The subcommittee also reviewed fund-source details on the cash side, noting a $1.0 million difference in prior-year fund balance related to Vermont State Colleges (the committee had previously authorized $6.0 million instead of a $7.0 million request, leaving an extra $1.0 million in the cash fund that was later reassigned). Members said they would account for that difference when finalizing the bill’s cash/bond mix.

Moore and committee members said they plan to continue markup work in follow-up meetings, deliver final language for staff counsel to draft, and present the committee bill to House Appropriations. Several subcommittees will complete their portions before the corrections/institutions package is presented to Appropriations, and committee members warned that the bill’s language will drive much of the floor debate next week.

“Anything new you’re going to get is going to have up‑to‑the‑minute [savings timestamps],” Moore said when explaining how the spreadsheet will be distributed. The subcommittee paused further votes and planned final action for a morning session the next day and in Appropriations, rather than taking final votes on all substantive reallocations at this meeting.