Senate orders third reading of H 4 89 after debate over motel program and governor—s executive order

The Vermont Senate on Tuesday ordered third reading of H 4 89, a fiscal year 2025 budget adjustment bill, after committee reports and a floor debate that centered on an extension of the General Assistance emergency housing ("hotel-motel") program and a contested executive order from the governor.

Senator Perchlick, reporting for the Senate Committee on Appropriations, said the committee removed items the governor had vetoed from an earlier version and returned certain appropriations to prior status. "We took out the ones that the governor objected to on his first veto in attempt to get to a bill that he would sign," Perchlick said. Perchlick listed several line-item changes and said the committee vote was 4-3-0 in favor of the committee report.

The debate on the Senate floor focused primarily on whether H 4 89 should be approved unchanged to preserve an undifferentiated extension of emergency housing through July 1. Senator Fujitnik urged passage, saying the governor—s Executive Order O3-25 of March 28, 2025,…