Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Budget Adjustment Act topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Appropriations staff outline House changes to BAA; provider stabilization, housing and childcare reserve language added
Summary
Committee staff walked through House amendments to the Budget Adjustment Act including reallocation of a removed treasurer appropriation, a $10 million provider stabilization grant, VHCB housing funds, childcare reserve language, and other technical changes.
Committee staff presented a working draft of House changes to the Budget Adjustment Act (BAA), highlighting a number of redirected appropriations, new eligibility language for provider stabilization grants, housing and pilot project allocations, and authority adjustments for special funds.
Staff said the House removed a $14 million recommended appropriation to the treasurer’s office and redistributed those dollars across several priorities. The committee heard that roughly $6 million was the amount staff expected to be available for appropriation after prior borrowings were repaid. The administration and treasurer’s office had proposed alternative uses; staff listed possible uses including a $3 million match opportunity for a federal resiliency program called Safeguarding Tomorrow, roughly $2 million for a municipal technical assistance program and a $1 million medical-debt buy-down as examples for consideration.
The House language adds a $10 million appropriation, carried into section 50 of the BAA, for provider stabilization grants. That appropriation is described in the draft as available to “all Vermont Medicaid participating providers with demonstrated stabilization needs and a sustainability plan,” and explicitly lists substance use residential treatment facilities, federally qualified health centers, residential mental health providers and “other providers of health care and human services.” Staff noted the draft does not define “demonstrated stabilization need,” and committee members asked whether additional eligibility criteria should be added to avoid tipping off organizations about their financial condition.
Housing-related changes were flagged: the House added an $8.6 million general fund appropriation to the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) to support affordable and mixed-income rental production, homeownership units, manufactured-home improvements, and emergency shelter. The House also added $2.8 million for pilot projects identified under a 2022 directive (Act 186/1 86 language) to complete developmentally disabled housing projects; VHCB representatives were scheduled to appear later in the week, staff said.
Staff explained technical adjustments to property transfer tax allocations to align statutory language with legislative intent without changing the total $9 million allocation. The House also changed allowable uses of certain prior-year appropriations — for example, authorizing funds originally appropriated for State House cafeteria furnishings to be used instead, in part, to purchase and install an x-ray screening machine identified by the sergeant at arms; staff said JLMC had authorized the purchase and the BAA language would permit use of capital funds previously appropriated.
On human services reserves and childcare, the House added language directing the secretary of administration to unreserve and transfer funds from the human services caseload reserve to the childcare contribution special fund as necessary to maintain statutory obligations to the childcare program (CCFAP). The House also added intent language that any unreserved balance in the childcare contribution special fund remain in that fund to support the possible future establishment of a dedicated reserve. Staff explained the childcare payroll-tax program is new and the intent language is intended to preserve flexibility while more experience is gathered.
Other house additions noted by staff included removal of a governor-recommended emergency board authority provision (the House struck that expansion to allow fuller FY26 discussion), directing Department of Corrections reporting on facility work-program deficits and outcomes, a SNAP discretionary-exemption directive, and language preserving current marriage-license fee allocations that fund victim services.
Committee members asked for more detail on eligibility definitions for the provider stabilization grants, on the timing and source of the redistributed treasurer funds, and on the planned use and procurement timeline for the State House x-ray machine. Staff identified relevant reports and offered to provide additional documents to the committee for its BAA markup work.
