Appropriations committee debriefs public hearing, flags homelessness and supportive-housing requests

The House Appropriations Committee on Jan. 28 reviewed public testimony from last week and spent the session identifying housing- and homelessness-related requests the committee may need to acknowledge in the current budget adjustment.

Committee members said several categories of housing assistance recurred in testimony, including emergency shelter/motel funding for people who are unhoused, an ongoing set of three pilot projects to develop permanent supportive housing for adults with disabilities, and requests tied to Vermont Housing Conservation Board (VHCB) grants. “When people get the courage to come sit before us, it’s a big deal,” said Margaret Helene Geldens, a member of the House Appropriations Committee.

Members stressed that acknowledging testimony is not an immediate commitment to fund every request but said they want to be sure the committee understands what it heard before finalizing adjustments. The committee noted one pilot supportive-housing effort remains unfinished: two pilot sites have been developed with VHCB support and private funders, and a third site was identified in testimony as a candidate for funding.

Members also debated whether certain items should be decided in the budget-adjustment vehicle or left to policy committees. Several members described a proposal to extend a motel-based emergency housing program until June 1 as policy-adjacent, not purely fiscal, and said the committee should be cautious about using the budget adjustment to start new, significant programs.

Federal funding uncertainty and recent executive actions that change grant streams were a particular concern. Committee members repeatedly referenced possible federal changes to Medicaid and refugee resettlement funding and said that uncertainty complicates decisions about one-time and ongoing state spending. One member described the difference between a previously expected ARPA “waterfall” of roughly $100 million and the $26 million that ultimately materialized, and said the gap had disrupted momentum on affordable-housing projects funded with anticipated federal flows.

Committee staff reminded members that the committee has until Friday to finish the BAA, that much of the remaining work is language edits, and that JFO and agency staff were available to reconcile technical questions about transfers and reserves.