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Vermont Human Rights Commission tells House appropriations it is understaffed and turning away hundreds of complaints
Summary
The executive director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission told the House Appropriations Committee the agency is severely backlogged, averaging hundreds of days to close cases, accepting fewer complaints than it receives and seeking short‑term funding for two positions in the current fiscal year.
Big Hartman, executive director and general counsel of the State of Vermont Human Rights Commission, told the House Appropriations Committee on Jan. 29 that the commission lacks the staff to keep up with a surge of civil‑rights complaints and is forced to decline many requests for investigation.
“We were averaging, in fiscal year 23, 649 days to close a case,” Hartman said, adding that the commission reduced that average to about 470 days this past year but remains far behind its goals. Hartman said the office now has three investigator attorneys, no full‑time intake specialist and is turning away people who seek help: “We receive over a 100, on average, over a 100 new inquiries each month,” Hartman said, and “I have about, 15 cases now that are unassigned to an investigator.”
Hartman told the committee the commission enforces the Vermont Fair Housing and Public Accommodations Act and state employment discrimination claims under what the witness identified as the Fair Employment Practices Act (FEBA). She said the agency also carries out work under a contract with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that requires the commission to accept some federal fair‑housing referrals.
The commission is asking the committee to include short‑term funding in the current budget adjustment to hire an intake specialist and a staff attorney investigator for the remainder of the fiscal year. Hartman said the request assumes roughly a quarter of annual salary and benefits for each position; she also noted that $35,137 already appears in the budget adjustment act to cover an operating shortfall this year.
Committee members pressed for details about how the commission prioritizes cases. Hartman said the office has been operating in “triage mode,” prioritizing housing and school discrimination complaints and taking cases that are “manageable” given limited staff. She described a recent increase in housing and disability‑related claims and said service‑animal and public‑accommodation complaints are growing as well.
Hartman gave the committee a brief history of staffing changes and enforcement capacity: the commission hired a litigation position last fall that enabled more enforcement actions in court, and that litigator — identified in testimony as Mitch Roper — has helped pursue settlements and court filings. Still, turnover and burnout have reduced investigator capacity, Hartman said.
Hartman also discussed federal funding mechanics. She said the HUD contract provides a modest base administrative payment tied to cases closed in the prior year and a per‑case payment that depends on how the case resolves; she said that additional federal funding is one realistic pathway to help offset state costs if the commission can accept and close more HUD‑eligible cases.
The committee did not vote on the request; members asked follow‑up questions and Hartman said she would return for further budget discussions as needed. Hartman also told the committee she has requested six full‑time and two part‑time positions in the governor’s FY26 request, but that those positions did not appear in the governor’s proposed budget as she understands it.
