House Appropriations Committee reviews final FY27 budget language, adds $50,000 one‑time for local civic journalism

The House Appropriations Committee met March 23 to review final FY27 budget language and supporting spreadsheets from the Joint Fiscal Office (JFO), and agreed to add a $50,000 one‑time appropriation intended to support local civic journalism.

The committee’s chair opened the session by outlining the plan: JFO would walk members through edits and then the committee would go off the record to read the materials before returning for final questions and a concluding vote. Grady of the Joint Fiscal Office described a handful of technical adjustments, including fund‑transfer clarifications for the CIT/techmod accounts and new directive language requiring the Department of Finance and Management and the Agency of Digital Services to report on CIT fund balances and a plan to reduce its deficit.

The presentation also included a revised appropriation for the state ethics commission: of a $150,000 general‑fund appropriation (fee 136.1), up to $140,000 may be used for a staff attorney to prioritize education, training, guidance and advice under the state and municipal codes of ethics, with any remaining authority usable for operating costs. JFO staff also explained a provision to preserve the B139 grand‑list and litigation assistance appropriation as an allowable use of the pilot fund regardless of parallel statutory changes.

Members reviewed human‑resources items in the positions spreadsheet. JFO staff said several positions were reclassified (for example, a Labor Relations Board role moved from an exempt staff‑attorney label to a classified mediator title) and noted seven positions the committee had moved to the personnel “pool,” while clarifying two secretary of state positions remained outside the pool. JFO and members also discussed conversions of limited‑service positions and how the executive branch uses the pool to supply some requested positions.

On budget arithmetic, JFO reported it had found roughly $180,000 in one‑time general‑fund resources after correcting two small double‑counted general‑fund entries and adjusting a transfer that moves $105,000 of consulting costs to a funded corpus. With that cushion, the chair proposed allocating $50,000 one‑time for local civic journalism; committee members indicated assent and JFO said the item would be added to the one‑time appropriation sheet. The committee recorded that the $50,000 requires a match, which would convert the commitment into $100,000 of total support with community participation.

Committee members also flagged a reported shortfall for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (budgeted at $900,000 in committee materials, with the commission’s chair requesting $1.1 million). Members said it was unlikely the House would close the $200,000 gap and recommended the commission pursue the Senate for additional funds.

Other technical changes noted by JFO included reassigning a legal‑aid immigration attorney appropriation from the Attorney General’s office to the Agency of Human Services, alignment of housing program base appropriations tied to H938 and Teresa’s amendment, and routing general‑fund authority for the healthcare advocate through the Green Mountain Care Board for billing purposes. JFO closed with a summary of reserve categories and FY projections and reminded members the detailed web report and language packages would be posted for review.

The committee went off the record to read the final materials and agreed to reconvene at about 3:45 p.m. for any remaining questions and final action.