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Committee questions using Higher Education Trust Fund for UVM multipurpose center; supports base increases

House Education · February 17, 2026

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Summary

Lawmakers said UVM’s 3% base increase is consistent with the governor’s ask but expressed reservations about a $15 million multipurpose center request to be paid from the Higher Education Trust Fund; they signaled support for small recurring items like cancer-center funding to health committee.

The House Education committee reviewed higher-education budget requests and signaled general support for base increases while questioning several targeted asks.

Committee staff said the University of Vermont’s base funding request aligns with a 3% inflationary increase. UVM also requested $1 million annually for five years for the Vermont Cancer Center and a separate $15 million request for a multipurpose facility, with the latter to be paid from the Higher Education Trust Fund rather than the general fund. Committee members said the trust fund’s statutory purpose traditionally emphasizes scholarships and endowments, and several members expressed concern about diverting the fund to capital projects without legislative changes to the fund’s use.

Members suggested the cancer-center request might be more appropriate for the Health Committee to review. On the $15 million multipurpose center ask, members said a statutory change would likely be necessary to change the fund’s permissible uses. One committee member said they were not categorically opposed to repurposing the trust fund if it produced substantial net new revenue, but called the proposal “fraught” for a committee that also advises K–12 school construction priorities.

The committee also heard Vermont State Colleges requests including a 3% base increase, $1.5 million one-time for rural micro-credential programs, roughly $3.9 million for allied health programming, and $6 million in capital projects (Johnson campus-focused). Committee members said they would defer capital appropriations decisions to the institutions where appropriate and were inclined to support base funding increases.

Next steps: Chair said the committee will include these positions and priorities in the budget memo, flag the Higher Education Trust Fund proposal for further legal/appropriations review, and defer capital-project decisions to institutional and appropriations reviews.