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Appropriations members discuss housing committee letter: proposed VHCB/VHFA funding and $2.8M for housing for adults with developmental disabilities
Summary
The committee reviewed a housing committee letter that proposes multi-million-dollar allocations and flagged the need to wait for the governor’s budget; members discussed $25M for VHCB/VHCP-related programs, $20M for VHFA programs and a $2.8M request for housing for adults with developmental disabilities.
The House Appropriations Committee reviewed a housing committee letter on Jan. 24 that outlines multiple requests for the Budget Adjustment Act and the upcoming governor’s budget. Committee members said the housing letter proposed a package that includes $25,000,000 for VHCP (noted as VHCP/VHCB pipeline support), $20,000,000 for Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) programs for middle-income homeownership and revolving loan support, and $2.8 million for housing projects serving adults with developmental disabilities.
Housing members emphasized pipeline uncertainty: the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) reportedly has roughly $13,000,000 remaining to allocate in the current fiscal year but nearly $47,000,000 in applications. Committee members said that if VHCB exhausts its current allocation by March, developers will have no available state resources for projects that expect funding signals from the state before committing to lengthy development processes.
The committee deferred any final BAA action on the housing items and said members will wait for the governor’s budget details to see which items the executive branch has proposed. Housing advocates and committee members signaled interest in including a BAA placeholder or other signal to developers so projects in advanced stages — including three pilot projects for adults with developmental disabilities — can proceed with planning and financing.
On the developmental-disability housing request, members said prior funding supported two projects, and that the additional $2.8 million would help complete a third, shovel-ready project. Committee members said they would coordinate with housing program staff and may ask BHCB or VHCB representatives to testify in follow-up to explain the pipeline and allocation timeline.
Committee members did not take final votes on the housing letter during the Jan. 24 session and asked staff to obtain more detail on project lists, fund sources and governor’s budget proposals before making BAA decisions.
