House Appropriations Committee reviews Budget Adjustment Act language, flags $74M reserve and technical housing appropriation

The House Appropriations Committee met Thursday to markup the Budget Adjustment Act and review a 15‑page language draft prepared by the Joint Fiscal Office.

Grady Nixon, Joint Fiscal, told the committee the document begins at section 46 and contains the language sections of the bill, while the numerical B‑section amendments the committee reviewed earlier will be produced automatically by the JFO system. “This document is only 15 pages long,” Nixon said, noting the draft was reformatted to conform to House style.

On page 3, Nixon flagged a technical correction: the draft shows a $1,000,000 General Fund appropriated to the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB) for the Homes for All Phase 2 and secure housing coaching programs. That funding previously appeared in the governor’s recommendation as a direct appropriation to the Land Access Opportunity Board (LAOB); the change moves the appropriation to VHCB to match where the LAOB is currently housed. Nixon said the change “is just moving that appropriation to the proper place in the bill and matching it with that act where the original appropriation occurred.” Committee members agreed the routing reflects the current organizational structure.

Nixon walked members through several other language sections. Section 47 updates property transfer tax allocations (an annual adjustment); section 48 contains fund‑transfer language that mirrors the spreadsheet the committee previously reviewed; and section 49 adds reversions, including three from the legislative branch and one to the tobacco litigation settlement fund. Nixon said reversions must be shown in statute because spending authority stays with the legislative branch unless changed by law.

The committee also discussed treasury language related to bond redemption that appears in Act 27 and was added here to aid legal placement of the new records.

Under section 50, Nixon presented reserve language that would set aside the first $74,000,000 of any fiscal year‑end balance for property tax relief. “Reserving the first 74,000,000 of any fiscal year‑end balance, otherwise subject to statutory closeout provisions, to be reserved for property tax relief,” Nixon said, and JFO will follow up with a fuller explanation of the statutory closeout process. In the same section, the draft technically unreserves $13,000,000 of the education fund that had been reserved pursuant to 2023 acts and resolves; Nixon explained the calculation showed those funds were available in the education fund and the technical unreserving had not previously been completed.

The draft also contains personnel and program adjustments: section 51 converts one executive director position at the Land Use Review Board to permanent exempt status (a position conversion that had been intended in the governor’s request but not processed), and section 52 updates the estimated state match for Global Commitment to reflect current estimates.

Nixon described a proposed statutory mechanism in section 53 to direct the commissioner of Finance and Management to reserve a General Fund amount equal to the consensus estimate for the childcare contribution at annual closeout. He noted this language had been proposed in the governor’s package as a repeal entry (32 VSA §308(d)) and suggested the committee consider how to add any chosen language to statute with an appropriate title.

Committee members also discussed carry‑forward language and effective dates, standard elements of the BAA. The group addressed a change to an alternative payment item, with the “all pay alternative payment” figure falling to about $5,300,000 from roughly $8,000,000; the chair said staff (Adam) will provide a revised carry‑forward/reversion sheet after the e‑board meeting. Members asked how a childcare special fund intersects with tax receipts that flow to the General Fund; Nixon clarified the proposed reserve is a technical closeout action and does not directly move money out of the special fund but instead ensures amounts meant for that fund are identified before closeout, acknowledging timing lags in tax receipts and reimbursements.

No formal motions or votes were recorded during the session. Nixon said additional language elements may be added to the BAA and JFO will provide explanatory materials; the committee scheduled a treasurer briefing at 1:15 p.m. and a security briefing at 2:00 p.m. (to be handled in executive session), and planned follow‑up work on the closeout presentation.

The committee adjourned its markup to reconvene for the scheduled briefings and follow‑up reviews.