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Senate Appropriations hears $829.7 million FY27 request for Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living
Summary
Department Commissioner Dr. Jill Belling told the Senate Appropriations committee the department's fiscal year 2027 request totals $829,747,105, driven primarily by Medicaid (Global Commitment) spending; division-level increases respond to caseload pressures, nursing-home bed-day costs and several program expansions.
Dr. Jill Belling, commissioner for the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living (DAIL), presented the department's fiscal year 2027 budget request to the Senate Appropriations committee, saying the proposed total is $829,747,105 and that the department is heavily Medicaid-funded.
DAIL's proposed FY27 total is financed largely through Global Commitment (Medicaid), which Belling said makes up roughly 88.2 percent of the request; the general fund share is about 4.7 percent. "We are very heavily Medicaid funded at the process," she said, noting the funding mix drives how much of the department's programs are subject to federal rules and matching requirements.
Why it matters: the department manages a broad long-term care and disabilities system at a moment of rising demand. Belling told senators Vermont's aging population is growing and that the department's budget must respond to caseload pressure, nursing-home bed-day costs and programmatic investments such as vocational rehabilitation and supportive housing.
Division-level highlights included:
- Developmental disabilities: $367,828,199 (about 44 percent of the department request); Belling said caseload and utilization increases account for part of the change.
- Adult services: $403,614,407 (about 49 percent); nursing-home bed-day pressures and statutory inflation adjustments are significant drivers.
- Vocational rehabilitation (HireAbility): just under $36 million (about 4 percent); Belling said 24 percent of that division's funding is general fund to match federal grants.
- Blind and visually impaired: about $5.8 million (1 percent).
- Licensing and protection and the commissioner's office: each roughly 1 percent of the total.
Belling walked the committee through prior-year baselines and recommended changes. She reported a net total recommended change of about $31,346,555 (roughly a 3.9 percent increase overall) with line-item changes to administration, caseload funding and program grants. In developmental services the recommended increase was nearly $8.2 million once caseload and related adjustments are counted.
Committee members pressed for comparisons to last year and for detail on fund-source shifts; department financial staff said some federal funding moves reflected utilization adjustments rather than new federal dollars. "When you see a federal reconciliation up or down, it is a utilization adjustment," the financial director said.
What happens next: committee members asked follow-up questions on specific line items and the department said it will provide appendix-level detail (program-by-program sheets on pages 53'70) and return to answer outstanding questions. No committee vote was taken on the budget during the session.
Sources and attribution: presentation and figures reported by Dr. Jill Belling and department fiscal staff during the Senate Appropriations committee hearing.
