Vermont Human Rights Commission tells Senate committee backlog has doubled; seeks more staff to speed fair‑housing cases

Faith Hartman, executive director and general counsel of the Vermont Human Rights Commission, told the Senate Government Operations Committee on Jan. 29 that the agency’s caseload has grown sharply and that it needs additional staff to process fair‑housing complaints in a timely way.

Hartman said the commission opened 57 new formal complaints in the most recent fiscal year, up from 41 the prior year, and that 35 of those new complaints were fair‑housing cases. “These cases average more than 1 year to close,” she said, adding that the commission’s contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires closing 50% of such cases within 100 days. “We have nowhere near the capacity to do that,” Hartman said.

Why it matters: The commission enforces state antidiscrimination law in housing, public accommodations and (for state employees) employment, and it also performs federally funded investigations under the Federal Fair Housing Act through a contract with HUD. Hartman told the committee that fair‑housing work now consumes “at least half” of the commission’s time and that the majority of…