Committee flags housing and homelessness investments, seeks funding source for HomeShare expansion
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Summary
House Human Services noted the governor’s proposed $23M increase for OEO housing and shelter activities, discussed 21 new positions and a proposed HomeShare continuation/expansion that lacks an identified revenue source; members suggested using FY25 carryforward or shifting Choices for Care funds as offsets.
The House Human Services committee discussed multiple housing and homelessness items in the FY27 budget, including the Office of Economic Opportunity (OEO) housing increases, HomeShare funding for the Northeast Kingdom, and an End Homelessness request.
Speaker 2 summarized that the governor proposed a roughly $23,000,000 increase for housing and shelter-related activities in OEO and that some increases include new positions (committee noted 21 positions being added in the governor’s book). Committee members said they will highlight the positions and funding questions in the cover memo to Appropriations.
HomeShare had one-time funding in FY26 to expand into the Northeast Kingdom but FY27 does not include that continuation. Speaker 4 and others discussed recommending level funding for HomeShare in FY27 but acknowledged no dedicated revenue source was identified. Members proposed potential offsets, including converting $235,000 of Choices for Care dollars to global commitment (GC) to free up funds for HomeShare; staff said they will list carryforward from FY25 as a potential funding source until Appropriations decides.
The committee also discussed an End Homelessness item with letters of endorsement from partner organizations and noted plans to identify FY25 carryforward as a funding source for some items and to forward the community resource center request (originally in the DMH budget) in the cover memo.
Ending: Staff will add the 21 positions and funding-source notes to the chart and include carryforward and offset options in the cover memo to Appropriations.
