Vermont Legal Aid urges committee to allow pilot funds to be used statewide

Sarah Cagle, an attorney and project director at Vermont Legal Aid, told the House General & Housing Committee on March 12 that H704 would let the agency use funds already allocated under Act 47 more broadly to serve tenants outside the pilot’s current counties.

Cagle said the tenant-representation pilot (TRP), funded beginning 11/01/2024 pursuant to Act 47, has closed 79 eviction cases between 08/01/2025 and 03/11/2026. “Of those 79 closed cases, 58 were cases where it was appropriate to measure whether representation prevented eviction,” she said, and of those 58 cases 26 people remained housed in the same unit when the case closed, which Cagle described as one measure of success.

The pilot was originally limited to Windsor and Lamoille counties; the statute and current allocation (roughly $1,000,025 over two years) were structured for that scope. Cagle told the panel H704 would make a narrow statutory change to permit Vermont Legal Aid to use existing funds, at the project’s discretion, in other counties. She said the organization is also seeking longer-term funding beyond the current authorization, which expires 10/31/2026.

Committee members asked detailed questions about intake and eligibility. Cagle said the pilot is broadly inclusive and that no applicant has been rejected solely for being over an income threshold under the project’s rules. She cautioned, however, that attorneys are bound by ethical conflict rules; conflicts can require declining an appearance even if the program would otherwise take a client’s case. On the meaning of a “closed” file, she said the term is inclusive (trials won or lost, dismissals, or other reasons the attorney is finished with the matter) and acknowledged it is an imperfect proxy for long‑term housing stability.

Lawmakers pressed for more granular data — for example, how many cases were for back rent versus other causes and whether clients returned with new complaints — and Cagle said those breakdowns were being collected but were not prepared for the hearing.

Committee discussion also covered operational questions: Cagle described TRP as a project within Vermont Legal Aid (she said she and three other attorneys staff the pilot) and said the pilot’s initial county choice was partly logistical. The committee noted Andrea’s supplemental funding proposal (as presented during the meeting): roughly $1,000,000 for expansion to 2–4 counties, about $2,000,000 for 4–6 counties, and $4,000,000 for a statewide program; members discussed that those figures appeared to be derived from current costs in the two pilot counties.

Cagle emphasized the pilot’s goal of improving representation equity in eviction court and said judges appreciate having legal-aid attorneys present. The committee did not take a vote on H704 at this meeting; the chair thanked Cagle and moved on to the next agenda item.

What’s next: H704 would need further committee action for any change to how Act 47 funds are targeted or spent; lawmakers also indicated interest in additional, more detailed outcome data if the committee considers expansion or supplemental funding.