Appropriations committee advances $82.6 million homelessness‑continuum bill, narrows hotel/motel cap

The House Appropriations Committee on March 20 approved H938, the homelessness-continuum appropriation, preserving a total of $82,634,153 while breaking out how the funds will be spent during FY27, which the committee described as a transition year.

Representative Theresa Wood, chair of the House Human Services Committee, told Appropriations the amendment keeps the same overall dollar amount but reallocates the funding to emphasize supportive services, case management and permanent housing strategies rather than continued heavy reliance on hotel and motel emergency housing. "What you have before you is an amendment that ... is the same dollar amount, the same total dollar amounts, $82,634,153," Wood said.

The amendment’s major line items, as described in committee, include: $39 million to the Housing Opportunity Program (HOP) for shelter operations and supportive services; $4.4 million for shelter development; $23.87 million for emergency hotel and motel housing; $2.4 million for community case management; $4.2 million for permanent supportive and family supportive housing (largely global commitment funds); $3 million for rental assistance administered through the Vermont State Housing Authority; $500,000 in municipal grants; $1.5 million for emergency cold shelters (coordinated with Vermont Interfaith Action); and $3.1 million for staffing grants and contracts (including a 21‑position call center and administrative functions).

Wood said FY27 is a transition year and full implementation is expected in FY28; the committee expects the Office of Economic Opportunity to run grant solicitations in April with awards timed so providers can access funds by July 1. Members pressed the committee on whether the smaller non-winter cap on hotel/motel rooms would leave people without options: the current non-winter cap was described as about 1,100 rooms (monthly averages reported near 1,200 including winter months); the amendment sets the non-winter cap at 700 and a winter cap at 1,000, effective July 1. Committee members noted this reduction will likely mean fewer people receive emergency hotel placements in the near term while investments target services intended to reduce returns to homelessness.

Committee members also asked about prioritization. The amendment retains a prioritization scheme (page 21 of the bill) that gives preference to households including people 65 or older, people with disabilities, minors, pregnant people, survivors of domestic or sexual violence, human-trafficking survivors, and households under court-ordered evictions. The bill asks for data on the rate of return to homelessness after placement to measure program effectiveness.

The committee voted to approve the bill and then conducted a straw poll on the Human Services amendment; the clerk recorded the roll calls. Committee members said the administration has been engaged and supportive of the direction of the compromise amendment. Members agreed to return to bill language and spreadsheet detail after lunch and to proceed with the amendment on the floor.