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Committee urges caution, seeks data before altering emergency shelter budget; flags out‑of‑state contractor costs
Summary
Members urged transparency about shelter spending, recommended extending winter housing provisions through June 30, and raised concern about out‑of‑state contractors being paid high hourly rates for shelter operations.
The Human Services Committee spent substantial time on emergency housing items, urging more data from agencies before approving permanent shifts and flagging serious risks for people currently in hotel shelter programs.
Staff presented a proposed BAA language amendment to extend winter housing provisions through June 30 and to treat the winter housing days as not counting toward the 80‑day cap. Committee members said roughly 457 households currently in hotels have already reached the 80‑day cap; staff warned that, without action, many occupants — including children and medically vulnerable people — could face eviction to unsheltered situations on April 1.
Staff provided preliminary cost context: maintaining the 1,100‑room cap without counting toward the 80‑day cap would increase costs by about $50,000 above the existing appropriation; expanding capacity to about 1,500 rooms would add roughly $2,368,000 to the budget. Staff also said current operational capacity has reached about 1,400 rooms at peak and that meeting larger capacity targets raised health and safety challenges.
On shelter contracting, the committee discussed transfers and reclassifications that put funds to shelters administered through the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) and the Housing Opportunity Program (HOP). Staff and members expressed unease about recent contracts with out‑of‑state providers who were reportedly paid in excess of $100 an hour for on‑the‑ground staff and over $300 an hour for supervisory services. Members said the committee’s intent was to prioritize in‑state providers and to avoid sending state funds out of Vermont where possible; they asked staff to flag the issue for FY26 policy work and to request detailed cost and contract information.
Committee members asked staff to confirm actual unspent shelter funds in the current appropriation and whether those could be used to prevent displacements. Staff said they had asked departments for up‑to‑date spending reports and would include that information in the memo to Appropriations.
The committee agreed to hold the proposed language on winter housing extension for further data review and to include concerns about out‑of‑state contractors and shelter costs in the FY26 oversight agenda.
