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Conference committee shifts funds into opioid settlement and debates primary-care and food program changes
Summary
At a meeting on House Bill 951, committee members recommended moving higher-ability funds into the opioid settlement fund and debated revised allocations for primary care, food programs and Jenna's Promise reentry services; DOC told the committee that covering Jenna's Promise would require roughly $75,000 in new money.
At a conference committee meeting on House Bill 951, committee members agreed to add back lines 47 and 48 and recommended moving higher-ability funds into the opioid settlement fund while debating changes to primary-care and food-program allocations.
The committee member leading the discussion said the proposed primary-care recommendations looked feasible but warned that the spreadsheet totals showed money being pulled away from primary care. "I think we all understand the need to, build primaries here and not lose the ones that we have," the committee member said.
Members also reviewed several food-program line items, including Meals on Wheels, home-delivered meals and food shelves. The committee said the Vermont Food Bank told staff that the draft budget language "isn't workable," and that staff would propose revised wording similar to last year to allow the food bank to distribute funds directly. Members discussed prior use of BT cards in the fall and asked staff to confirm whether reallocation between line items would materially change service levels.
The committee raised Jenna's Promise, a reentry program for women. A committee representative reported that Department of Corrections staff said the program could not be funded from DOC's regular budget without reducing other grant-funded services. "We would need another $75,000," the committee member said, adding that the program appears important but would require new money rather than a DOC reallocation.
Committee members asked staff to return with proposed language and any fiscal comparisons, including a review of prior-year grants and whether modest differences (the transcript referenced prior grants of about $150,000 and current requests around $182,000 for certain programs) would change service outcomes. The committee agreed to check off several items and asked staff to prepare revised language and reports for the next meeting.
The committee completed work on page 660 and recorded a recommendation to place higher-ability funds into the opioid settlement fund within the bill, rather than pre-allocating them in the budget. No formal roll-call vote was recorded in the transcript; members closed the item and set follow-up meetings.
