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DFR outlines restitution payments, grant round from enforcement special fund
Summary
At a Feb. 9 hearing, the Department of Financial Regulation told the House Appropriations Committee it has disbursed about $400,000 in restitution from enforcement actions and ran a grant program with nine applicants to use funds for consumer outreach and education; the department reported roughly $500,000 remaining in the special fund.
During the House Appropriations Committee session on Feb. 9, Department of Financial Regulation Commissioner Kai Sampson described the department's enforcement restitution and educational grant activity.
Sampson said the agency has used enforcement authority to order restitution and collect fines and penalties, and "we've given, I think, about $400,000" in restitution to impacted Vermonters. He said the law allows the department to allocate a portion of enforcement recoveries to an education and restitution fund that can be granted to nonprofits, schools and community organizations (the department's policy is not to grant to regulated businesses to avoid conflicts).
Sampson said the department recently ran a grant program that drew nine applicants seeking funds for outreach, financial-literacy work and anti-fraud education. He estimated the special fund balance at about $500,000. Committee members clarified that some lines on the slide represent spending authority rather than amounts already spent.
Earlier in the hearing Sampson and David Cameron discussed personnel and vacancy savings; Sampson later said the department has about 110 positions and roughly 10 current vacancies, a vacancy rate he described as about 10%.
The committee asked for clarification about the grant and restitution lines; Sampson said the $339,000 (slide line referenced during the exchange) reflected a spending line in that fiscal year and that the special fund balance and spending authority figures could be shared in more detail if requested.
Next steps: the committee indicated follow-up questions could be submitted at the mic or through staff for written clarification and fiscal reconciliation.
