Several Vermont Legal Aid projects that rely on state dollars could have to scale back operations if the Legislature doesn’t find money to cover their growing costs, the organization’s director says.
Eric Avildsen, Legal Aid’s executive director, has spent time at the Statehouse recently lobbying for additional money. Those efforts are touch-and-go, he said Monday.
The alternative, he said, is downsizing or shifting resources away from other projects.
Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, vice chair of the House Appropriations Committee, said lawmakers are aware that Legal Aid projects are in jeopardy, but it’s unclear what can be done to give them a boost.
“We have to look at … (Legal Aid’s) needs in context with all the other needs in the budget and the revenue available to pay for them,” she said.
House Appropriations was the only committee at work in the Statehouse on Monday. They are ironing out how they will accommodate what is at this point a $14 million hole in the governor’s proposed budget.
Avildsen said Legal Aid projects have been level-funded in the governor’s budget over several administrations without annual adjustments for rising costs or the expanded scope of some projects.
As a result, he’s had to approach lawmakers every four to five years to push for increases in grants to Legal Aid in order to keep up with the inflationary growth of expenses, Avildsen said.
“I do what I can to cut costs, but there are some things I’m not able to make cost less,” he added. The rising premium rates for employee health insurance plans is one example.
Johnson said she’s unaware of any grants the state awards that have built-in cost adjustments.
The Foreclosure Defense Project, the Long-term Care Ombudsman’s office and the Office of the Health Care Advocate would all need to be scaled back without additional money, Avildsen said.
The Foreclosure Defense project was launched with settlement money from a nationwide class action suit against the five largest mortgage banks in the United States.
Money from the $25 billion settlement was distributed to states to help residents who signed risky or fraudulent mortgages.
Legal Aid received a two-year $200,000 grant ($100,000 each year) from Vermont’s settlement, but that and a smaller supplemental grant will run out in June.
Legal Aid is requesting $100,000 per year for the next two years to continue representing Vermonters in foreclosure proceedings.
There were 1,578 foreclosures proceedings initiated last year in Vermont, well above the state’s pre-financial crisis level of fewer than 1,000.
There are many more that were passed from banks to mortgage-servicing companies that are still proceeding through the court system, according to a letter Legal Aid submitted to the House Appropriations Committee.
It makes economic sense for the state to continue to pay for the project, because when people lose their homes they typically require public assistance that would ultimately create a larger burden for the state, Avildsen said.
For both the Long-term Care Ombudsman and the Office of the Health Care Advocate, the scope of work has grown without consistent funding sources to defray the increased cost.
Vermont receives federal money that it is required to spend on advocating for the interests of seniors in nursing homes and residential living facilities, and it contracts with Legal Aid to do that work.
The contract has gone to bid several times, and it has been awarded to Legal Aid each time – with the organization often as the sole bidder – Avildsen said.
The number of long-term care patients has increased and grant money from the state has not kept pace, he said.
Legal Aid wants an additional $250,000 from the state, which would be eligible for a federal match, to cover increasing costs.
The Health Care Advocate’s Office, which does health care related consumer advocacy work, is also facing a budget shortfall, resulting from expiring federal grants and poor communication between Legal Aid, the Green Mountain Care Board and the administration.
Confusion persists between parties about who is expected to pay for the advocate’s expanded role as a consumer voice in health care reform.
Last week lawmakers on the House Health Care Committee heard conflicting information on the size of the program deficit, which is somewhere between $150,000 and $300,000.
Legal Aid isn’t the only organization providing important services to Vermonters facing cuts that could lead to downsizing.
The Vermont Center for Crime Victim’s Services is facing a budget deficit of close to $600,000 and could be forced to lay off a number of employees due to the loss of federal grant money and insufficient state funding to make up the difference.
The House Appropriations Committee is expected to vote on a budget bill Friday.
CORRECTION: Vermont Legal Aid received $200,000 in state grants as a result of the mortgage settlement.
