Appropriations committee reviews Liquor and Lottery fund shortfall, OPEB liability and sports-wagering projections

House Appropriations Committee members heard an update Thursday from Wendy Knight, commissioner of the Vermont Department of Liquor and Lottery, on the department’s enterprise fund, long‑term liabilities and recent revenue projections for the new online sports‑wagering program.

“For the record, my name is Wendy Knight. I’m the commissioner of the Department of Liquor and Lottery,” Knight told the committee, describing the agency’s portfolio as running the Vermont Lottery, the Division of Liquor Control and the state’s online sports wagering program. She said the department has a “dual mission … which is commerce and, public safety.”

The discussion focused on why the Liquor Control Fund has shown a deficit on the books dating back before 2017, how accounting changes for pensions and other post‑employment benefits (OPEB) altered the fund’s net position, how earlier policy changes affected revenue flows and how recent market trends and sports‑wagering payout patterns are changing near‑term transfer projections to the general fund.

Knight told legislators that if the state had not begun recording long‑term liabilities differently…