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Vermont Senate rejects rule suspension to fast-track budget adjustment aimed at averting April 1 exits from motel shelter program
Summary
A motion to suspend Senate rules and take up H.489 — an FY2025 budget adjustment tied to the general assistance (GA) motel program — failed 16–13 after a daylong debate about whether the state should extend motel housing through June to avoid forcing vulnerable people outdoors.
The Vermont Senate on March 31 rejected a motion to suspend the rules and take up H.489, an actuating fiscal-year 2025 budget adjustment connected to the state’s general assistance (GA) emergency housing program, after a heated debate over whether ending the GA motel policy on April 1 would force families and vulnerable people onto the streets.
Senator from Chittenden moved the rule suspension and framed the vote as urgent. “The clock today is life and death,” the senator said, arguing the Senate should allow H.489 to reach the governor’s desk so motel occupants could remain housed for an additional three months while a replacement program is developed. The motion failed on a roll-call vote, 16 yes and 13 no.
The debate centered on competing assessments of the GA program and on what the administration and legislature should do before the seasonal transition on April 1. Jenny Samuelson, secretary of the Vermont Agency of Human Services (AHS), told the chamber that the GA program “does not end” on April 1 but transitions to a seasonal policy and that the program will continue to shelter up to 1,100 households. Samuelson also told senators that, since February 2024, 135 people who used the program have died; she attributed many of those deaths to overdoses and other health conditions.
Supporters of the suspension, including the chamber’s majority whip, urged colleagues to allow debate on a short-term appropriation of roughly $1.8 million to $2.1 million that senators said would bridge motel occupants to warmer months and new housing projects. “We have an opportunity as a body … to decide to make those folks whole for three more months,” the majority whip said, noting municipal leaders warned of high local costs to stand up temporary shelters.
Opponents, including the senator from Caledonia, argued that the GA program had been judged by the administration and legislature to be failing and that the body should instead use remaining time to focus on policy work rather than suspending rules for expedited consideration. Secretary Samuelson told the Senate the GA program was “no longer fulfilling its life saving mission and it is failing the people it was designed to protect,” and she urged focusing on targeted protections for the most vulnerable rather than a universal extension.
Senators reported district-level counts of children who could be exited from the program on April 1: Barrie 14, Bennington 15, Brattleboro 22, Burlington 25 and Rutland 62. Senators said the exit numbers included families, people with disabilities, and people displaced by flooding. Advocates and municipal officials who addressed the chamber earlier in the day warned local shelters and services lack capacity to absorb a large, immediate influx.
The roll call that followed the motion listed individual senators’ votes; the secretary announced the motion failed with 16 yes and 13 no. After the failed motion the secretary placed H.489 on calendar notice and referred other bills to committee as the session proceeded.
The Senate adjourned until 9:30 a.m. April 1; several standing committees scheduled afternoon meetings to continue budget and appropriations work.
Ending: The failed suspension leaves the GA seasonal transition date of April 1 unchanged. Lawmakers said they will continue budget negotiations in committee sessions and on the floor when the Senate reconvenes, but no immediate action to keep motel occupants housed beyond March 31 was taken by the full Senate.
