House Appropriations reviews FY2026 budget language, flags transfers and one‑time housing, health and infrastructure spending

The House Appropriations Committee met Feb. 4, 2025, to review the administration’s FY2026 budget language, focusing on several large transfers and a mix of one‑time appropriations for housing, health testing and remediation, public safety communications, and workforce classification work.

Committee members were shown the full draft language and supporting spreadsheets as Commissioner of Finance and Management Adam Greshen and Deputy Commissioner Hardy Merrill (Finance and Management) explained the major items. “Having voted out the budget adjustment yesterday, we are moving right along to the FY ’26 budget,” the committee chair said at the start of the session.

The proposal includes an approximately $81.2 million transfer from the general fund to the general obligation bond debt‑service fund, an increase from the prior year. Administration staff said the year‑over‑year change is driven by increases in outstanding debt service tied to prior bond sales and interest rates. The language also contains a $77.2 million transfer from the general fund to the education fund intended for property‑tax relief; staff described that transfer as being calculated to support a “0% statewide average” change in property tax burden under current assumptions.

Housing and infrastructure were among the largest singled‑out investments. The draft directs $9.1 million to a new Vermont Infrastructure Sustainability Fund to support municipal wastewater and…