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Appropriations committee flags new $182,000 request tied to lost local 'sponsors' for food programs; asks AOE to clarify
Summary
Committee members discussed a new $182,000 budget request to cover food (or related) supports after several local sponsors withdrew; members asked the Agency of Education to explain sponsor loss and administrative barriers.
During its Jan. 24 meeting, the House Appropriations Committee discussed a new request in the education committee letter: roughly $182,000 to cover food supports for childcare or other centers after several local sponsoring organizations withdrew from administering the program.
Committee members said testimony (cited as coming from Capstone in public hearings) described sponsors — local organizations that administered food or related programs — leaving the role because administrative fees and overhead made the work financially untenable. Members said Franklin County and other localities lost sponsors and that a Central Vermont nonprofit was stepping in to continue services in at least some areas.
Appropriations members asked Agency of Education (AOE) staff to explain whether this request should be handled in the Budget Adjustment Act and to bring proposed language to clarify program structure and funding rules. Members expressed concern that administrative fee rates can make these pass-through programs unattractive to local administrators and that sponsor loss may reflect broader capacity constraints among community action and nonprofit agencies.
The committee did not take a final vote on the $182,000 request during the Jan. 24 session. Members asked staff to review the request when AOE representatives appear at a later time and to provide specifics about which fund(s) would cover the cost and how the request should be structured in BAA language.
Members described the issue as part of a broader, cross-sector capacity problem: community action agencies and other nonprofits are operating with narrow margins and may be “one paycheck away from being a client,” a phrasing used in the discussion to emphasize capacity constraints. The Appropriations Committee directed staff to follow up with AOE and with Representative Colin (who had provided email background) to obtain language or additional detail.
