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House panel hears bill to create statewide ADA coordinator; members debate unique hiring language and funding
Summary
The House Appropriations Committee heard H.861 to establish a statewide Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator, including a FY27 appropriation of $150,000; sponsor Rep. Elizabeth Burrows and legislative counsel described duties and hiring criteria, and the committee discussed an amendment to remove the appropriation and forward the bill to the Senate.
The House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday heard H.861, a bill to create a statewide Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator in the Agency of Administration and to appropriate $150,000 from the general fund for FY27 to establish the position. Representative Elizabeth Burrows, sponsor of the measure, told the committee that Vermont has been "out of compliance on many different levels" with updates to the ADA since about 2013 and that a central coordinator would provide consistent training, audits, and a single point of accountability for people with disabilities.
Burrows said the role is intended to serve about "more than 150,000" Vermonters who have at least one disability and to reduce costly lawsuits by aligning agencies on accessibility standards. "A statewide coordinator at a high level of authority creates a permanent and authoritative voice for that quarter of our state's population," she said.
Legislative counsel Katie McLintock summarized bill language and duties: the coordinator would work directly with state agencies to advance and monitor compliance, act as a consultant for executive, legislative and judicial leadership, ensure communications are effective and accessible, oversee self-evaluations and transition plans, maintain relationships with disability advocacy organizations, and provide federally required public notice of ADA rights. McLintock also noted the bill sets professional requirements, including lived experience with disability and completion of an ADA coordinator certificate program.
Members raised two recurring concerns. Several questioned the hiring language, which directs the secretary of administration to consider only candidates nominated by specified outside advocacy entities. "Is there any legal issue...if they can only" consider nominees from those groups, one member asked; McLintock said GovOps colleagues reviewed the language and confirmed it is unique in statute but was crafted to ensure the role represents the disability community. Burrows invoked the principle "nothing about us without us" to justify community involvement in selecting candidates.
The second concern was funding. The bill includes a one-time FY27 appropriation of $150,000; counsel and fiscal staff warned an ongoing base budget would be required to maintain the position beyond the initial year. To avoid killing the measure on a funding technicality, the committee discussed and drafted an amendment that would strike the appropriation and replace the effective-date provision so the act would take effect on July 1, 2026 only if the FY27 budget includes the $150,000. The chair said the amendment's purpose was to forward the policy to the Senate and keep the proposal "in play" while budget details are resolved.
Committee members also suggested alternate approaches, including referring technical governance and hiring questions to Government Operations for further review or reallocating an existing position within the administration. No formal committee vote was recorded on the bill or the amendment during the hearing; members agreed to pursue next steps, including possible additional testimony from administration officials and Ways and Means action on timing and fiscal availability.
The committee left the matter pending and said it would return to the bill after receiving updated fiscal paperwork and any proposed amendment language.
