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Senate Transportation reviews H.944 draft as Legislative Council flags fund shortfalls and bond-reporting change
Summary
On April 16 the Senate Transportation committee continued review of H.944 (draft 4.1). Legislative Council detailed revenue shortfalls, rising construction costs and a proposal to rely on CDAC reporting rather than preset bond amounts; staff will produce a clean draft for editors and return for final action.
The Senate Transportation committee continued its markup of H.944 on April 16, as Damian Leonard of the Office of Legislative Council summarized new legislative findings and urged prompt action to address transportation-fund shortfalls.
Leonard told the committee that “state fiscal year 2025 transportation fund revenues came in nearly $7.4 million below forecast,” and that the July 2025 consensus forecast projects only about 1.33% compound annual growth in the transportation fund between FY2026 and FY2030. At the same time, he said, the national highway construction cost index rose by approximately 62% between 2020 and 2025, and the agency has eliminated 62 permanent positions to address prior shortfalls.
Those mismatches, Leonard said, threaten the state’s ability to provide the required match for federal transportation funds, which account for more than half of Vermont’s annual transportation budget. To avoid locking in a specific bond amount that could conflict with CDAC recommendations, the draft now requires the Capital Debt Affordability Advisory Committee to report annually, by Sept. 30, on the prudent maximum transportation infrastructure bond authorization for the coming fiscal year; the treasurer would review requested bond issuances in consultation with CDAC.
Leonard and committee members also discussed several drafting and timing edits, including a small increase in a proposed transfer shown in the draft from $10 million to $10.4 million in section 10 and clarifying language on expected infrastructure deterioration if maintenance is not sustained. A committee member observed the bill’s bond framework could amount to roughly $75 million in total authorization under the proposed approach.
The committee did not take a final floor vote on H.944 during the session. Damian Leonard said he would make the agreed edits, send a clean draft to editors, and the panel planned to reconvene soon to complete work and vote.
What's next: staff will finalize edits and send the clean draft to editors; the committee expects to meet again before the end of April to finalize the bill.
