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Committee holds open $14M emergency-board/bonding item, discusses veterans-home spending and a $545,782 reversion
Summary
The committee discussed emergency-board moves tied to flood response and mobile-home rapid response, reviewed governor's veterans-home budgeting for FY2026, and noted a reversion of $545,782 for a project that did not require start-up funds.
The House Appropriations Committee on Jan. 29 held open a set of language and accounting questions tied to an emergency-board appropriation related to July 2024 flood response and discussed updated veterans-home budget numbers from the governor's office.
Committee members noted an emergency-board transfer of $14 million that the Treasurer's Office initially provided and which was used for flood response programs. A member explained: "the e board had given $14,000,000, 7 for the mobile home rapid response, 7,000,000 for DCAP with the stipulation that the governor needed to put money back from the general fund into that fund." Committee staff said they were holding that line open pending confirmation of how the governor will replenish the fund.
At-length discussion touched on the Vermont Veterans Homes budgeting. One member summarized recent years' experience: earlier budgets were in the low-to-mid $20 million range, and through budget adjustment work the FY2025 figure approached about $30 million. The member said the governor's FY2026 proposal budgets roughly $30 million for the veterans homes, which aligns more closely with recent actual spending; members noted the risk of future deficits remains but said it appeared smaller than in prior cycles.
The committee also noted a planned reversion: "we're reverting 545,782. The project for an RFP... didn't require a startup money that was budgeted for them. They were using something they had already had or they could adapt and they didn't need that money," a member said. The committee planned to reflect that reversion in the final language.
House staff said they would continue to coordinate with the Treasurer's Office, AHS, and administration staff to confirm bonding and cash-fund language, and to ensure the emergency-board appropriation and veterans-home projections are reflected accurately in the final budget-adjustment language.
