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House Human Services backs Reach Up inflation stipend and urges fuller use of federal SNAP 'bank' months
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Summary
The committee recommended a one-time inflation-response stipend for Reach Up participants and urged the Department for Children and Families to use available federal SNAP "units" (about 29,000 month-vouchers) before they return to the federal pool at the next fiscal-year deadline.
Rep. Teresa Wood, chair of the House Human Services Committee, said the committee recommends using underutilized FY25 funds in Reach Up and supporting a federal SNAP bank provision to avoid losing available federal benefit months.
The nut graf: For Reach Up (basic-needs support for caregivers and low-income parents) the committee proposed a one-time inflation-response stipend for current participants and recommended keeping a remainder in the line item to account for caseload volatility. For SNAP (3SquaresVT) the committee urged fuller use of the federal "bank" of roughly 29,000 voucher units that represent monthly allotments available to the state and that will expire when the federal fiscal-year allocation resets.
On Reach Up, Wood said the caseload is smaller than previously forecast and that the committee would propose dispersing a one-time stipend described in committee materials as "$101100" to current Reach Up participants (the transcript did not specify whether that figure refers to a total or a per-participant amount). Committee staff said the Reach Up participant count at the time of testimony was 3,732 and recommended retaining a remaining $126,000 in the line item because caseloads can be volatile.
On SNAP, the committee supported an additional $1.3 million in funding to make use of a federal provision that allows the state to apply an existing bank of benefit units during interim coverage when a household's paperwork or recertification is pending. Wood described the bank as "29,000 units" and said those units represent month-long vouchers; staff clarified the bank is scheduled to expire at the federal fiscal-year reset (the committee described that as September 30). "It allows that grace period," Wood said, explaining that the units are federally funded and can prevent a one-month interruption in benefits while paperwork is processed.
Committee members said using the federal bank reduces paperwork churn and prevents short-term terminations that then require a full reapplication. The committee urged DCF to use the bank more fully this year rather than let unused units lapse.
Ending: The committee provided draft budget language for the Reach Up stipend and SNAP technical language and encouraged Appropriations to adopt the measures to reduce benefit interruptions and respond to inflation pressures among basic-needs households.
