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Senate Institutions committee approves H952 with amendment, reallocates $868,850 to correctional facility projects
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Summary
The Senate Institutions committee voted 5–0 April 23 to report H952, the capital bill, with Amendment 10. Staff explained reallocations adding $868,850 to the package, including $270,000 for a Northern State Correctional Facility boiler replacement and about $598,850 for maintenance/renovations at facilities serving incarcerated women.
On April 23, 2026, the Senate Institutions committee voted 5–0 to report H952, the capital bill, favorably with Amendment 10 after staff described a set of reallocations that add $868,850 in bonding to the package.
John Gray, introduced to the committee as the staff presenter, told members the reallocations increase the total bonding available for sections 2 through 16 and add $868,850 to the bill’s bottom line. He said $270,000 of that reallocation was applied to boost the Northern State Correctional Facility boiler replacement line to $700,000 and, when combined with $1 million in cash, to a $1.7 million project estimate. The remaining $598,850 was assigned to Subdivision 8 for maintenance and renovations at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility and other facilities serving incarcerated women, Gray said.
A committee member asked whether the phrase covering "maintenance, replacement, and renovations" could be read to allow a full replacement of a women's prison. Gray said there is an argument it could fit within renovations but that historically the legislature has called out "replacement" explicitly; he offered that "if you would like to add that one word, it's simple," and members indicated they could add language and still proceed to a vote.
Committee staff noted the reallocations appear in a new Subdivision 19 in the bill text and that the document was still with the editing team; the presenter offered to provide a clean, post-editing version for the record. A committee member summarized updates to the spreadsheet that correspond to the increases (line 29 for boiler replacement, line 32, and line 175A for reallocation funding).
The chair directed the clerk to call the roll. Named responses in the transcript include Senator Betsy, Senator Major, Senator Plunkett and Senator Harris, each recorded as voting "Yes." The clerk reported the tally as 5–0–0 in favor of the bill with Amendment 10. The chair said the committee would report the bill and expected a conference committee call with Franklin as the next step.
The meeting adjourned with committee staff to circulate the edited bill text and continued coordination on next procedural steps.
