Senate Appropriations reviews House changes to FY2025 Budget Adjustment Act

Emily Burns, deputy financial officer and analyst at the Joint Fiscal Office, briefed the Senate Appropriations Committee on the House amendments to the FY2025 Budget Adjustment Act, walking members through a line-by-line spreadsheet that compared the House position with the governor's recommendations.

"I'm here to walk through this sort of big spreadsheet that gives you the overview of what the house did as compared to the governor's recommend," Burns told the committee, presenting two companion documents: a condensed list of changes and a larger governor-tracked budget document.

The Joint Fiscal Office briefing summarized the top-line figures the committee used in its review. The FY2025 base appropriations as passed were described in the briefing as roughly $2.1 billion in recurring appropriations plus additional items that brought the subtotal to about $2.4 billion before the current adjustment exercise. On the adjustment proposals, Burns said the governor's recommended one-time changes (GovRec) totaled about $22 million, while the House's adjustments totaled about $38 million — a difference the analyst described as roughly $15 million.

Burns explained how the House used an available $14 million that the governor had proposed be returned to the Treasurer's Office (the emergency board reversion) instead to fund other one-time items. She walked members through other material House changes: an $11 million reconciliation payment for the Brattleboro Retreat; a net $6 million increase tied to provider stabilization grants (the governor proposed $4 million for substance-use facility stabilization, which the House increased to $10 million); a roughly $8.6 million addition for housing projects identified as "BHCV" (described by staff as one-time funds for housing projects); a $1.8 million estimate to extend a cold-weather exemption; and a $3 million reversion and reappropriation to the insurance reserve fund tied to a settlement payment.

On the revenue side, Burns said the House worked with an available general‑fund revenue estimate of about $2.681 billion. Netting that against the House's proposed appropriations and transfers left about $133.6 million projected to be carried forward into FY2026. Burns noted part of the change from the governor's numbers reflected an updated forecast: "63 of it was the forecast," she said, explaining that $63 million of the bottom-line improvement came from an upgraded revenue forecast rather than newly designated receipts.

Committee members discussed policy tradeoffs and items they might add before final action. Senators asked for clarifying language and supporting testimony for several House changes; the committee flagged the treasurer's memo about debt redemptions and the practical limits on early debt redemption. Members raised separate proposals that are not yet in the House package: possible short-term reinsurance or a stabilization fund to shore up the state's largest commercial insurer and proposals to support low-income weatherization work. Those items were discussed as possible uses of one‑time funds, not as adopted changes.

Burns outlined a process the committee will follow: staff and JFO will supply language and memos for open items, the committee will close lines one-by-one or group them, and the committee expects further testimony in forthcoming meetings. The Senate Appropriations Committee planned to continue work this week and to vote on the BAA on Friday, staff said; no formal committee votes or amendments were recorded on the transcript of this briefing.

The briefing also noted administrative and technical adjustments: changes to how debt-service payments are accounted for (some amounts moved from appropriations to transfers for timing reasons), a series of contingent appropriations carried forward from FY2024, and items the House accepted from the administration's FY2026 c-section proposals that were moved into the current adjustment package.

The committee did not take formal action during the session recorded in the transcript. Members directed staff to obtain additional documentation, to circulate language for proposed additions, and to schedule witnesses to explain several items (including the treasurer's memo on bond redemption and JFO memos on pilot funds and insurance reserve mechanics). The committee chair said members would narrow outstanding lines in the spreadsheet as staff returns suggested language and cost information.

What happens next: the committee will receive the requested memos and language, resolve remaining line items, and plan a formal vote on the BAA at a later stated meeting (the transcript indicates the committee expected to vote on Friday).