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Joint Fiscal Office outlines H.5951 budget; contingency list and tax-accounting shifts flagged
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Summary
Emily Burns of the Joint Fiscal Office told the Appropriations Committee the H.5951 Appropriations Act totals about $9.37 billion, highlighted a contingency list and accounting shifts (transfers vs appropriations), and described program moves such as a school-based Medicaid administration transfer to AHS; members reserved judgment and planned a committee vote tomorrow.
Emily Burns of the Joint Fiscal Office gave the committee a high-level overview of H.5951, saying "there is a 3 point 9.37 unduplicated billion dollar budget." She told members that roughly 35% of the budget is federal funds (largely Medicaid) and that the general and education funds each account for about 27% of appropriations.
Burns explained that the senate bill includes a contingency list and that it is unclear whether FY2026 revenues will be sufficient to fund those items. She said the bill as drafted would first backfill certain transfers into the technology modernization fund and then allocate any remaining contingency dollars pursuant to the statutory waterfall (50% to the rainy day fund, 25% to teachers' retirement and 25% to state employees' retirement, cited in the bill as "32 3 0 8 c").
The presentation emphasized accounting differences between the governor's recommendation, the house and the senate. Burns said a $4 million change tied to a renter credit is characterized in the senate as an appropriation rather than a transfer, which shifts line items between transfers and appropriations without materially increasing total spending.
The bill also includes a study (section E1.27.1) directing the Joint Fiscal Office to review about 400 special funds over four years to identify where the money comes from and whether any funds should be eliminated or restructured. Burns said the review would examine roughly 100 special funds per year.
On programmatic changes, Burns described moving a school-based Medicaid drawdown program from the Agency of Education to the Agency of Human Services while preserving existing allocation shares to school districts and lowering AHS overhead from 30% to 20% next year. Committee members asked about scale; Burns and staff estimated about $6,000,000 flows into the Ed Fund from that program and noted roughly $95,000,000 is the portion treated as direct Ed Fund revenue (about 20% of the overall Medicaid reimbursement described).
Burns also flagged language (section E.9.23) that would allow the transportation fund to retain its interest beginning in FY2028 rather than sending that interest to the general fund. Separately, the senate proposal reallocates cannabis excise tax revenue beginning FY2028 so the general fund would receive 50% (down from 70%) and the Higher Education Endowment Trust Fund would receive 20%; the senate bill would appropriate $12 million of that trust fund to the University of Vermont for a recreation center (the governor requested $15 million).
A committee member objected to the proposed UVM appropriation, saying it was "a really bad idea" to use money meant for scholarships and low-income students to fund a campus recreation facility. The chair and other members said they would review alternatives.
The chair said the committee will place the budget on for a vote tomorrow and anticipated offering a floor amendment to place a separate $9 million pilot‑fund transfer (from the transportation bill) into appropriations. The committee scheduled follow-up sessions for outstanding technical questions and testimony.
The committee did not take a formal vote in this meeting. The committee received the JFO materials and requested additional technical briefings before final action.
