[T]he House Human Services Committee on Thursday bristled at Gov. Peter Shumlin’s proposal to make the Vermont Tobacco Evaluation and Review Board (VTERB) an advisory board.
In his proposed FY 2016 budget, Shumlin proposed eliminating one position from the board, which oversees anti-smoking efforts across the state. Under the plan, the board would continue to serve in an advisory capacity, and the reduction would net close to $224,000 in savings.
But the House Human Services Committee disagreed.
“The General Assembly intentionally developed the Board to act as an independent entity and this change defeats that purpose,” the committee states in the memo.
The recommendation is part of a 12-page memo from the Human Services Committee on how the governor’s proposed budget aligns with the human services objectives of state government.
The memo is directed at the House Appropriations Committee, which is currently in the process of marking up the governor’s proposed budget.
Shumlin’s budget patches a $94 million gap between revenue and spending. That difference increased with the revenue downgrade in January, which expanded the gap by an additional $18.6 million.
On Wednesday, representatives from the Vermont Tobacco Evaluation and Review Board told members of the committee that they would prefer to find the $224,000 in their own budget than restructure and lose independence.
“As an independent Board, VTERB will continue to do what it does best: to guide and evaluate the state’s tobacco control program and policies based on research and best practice, not on politics, keeping the tobacco control program on course to ensure a return on investment,” Kathryn O’Neill, the administrator of VTERB, wrote in an email statement Thursday.
The memo also includes a condemnation of the “exorbitant” retirement package paid to the former executive director of a mental health services agency in southern Vermont last year.
The board paid Judith Hayward $650,000 upon her retirement from Health Care and Rehabilitation Services (HCRS). The Human Services Committee memo calls for more oversight of designated agencies.
Current HCRS CEO George Karabakakis said by phone Thursday that since the retirement payout last year, there has been a change of leadership on the board and a change of legal counsel.
“We as an agency need to ensure good stewardship of the funds that we receive,” Karabakakis said.
The Human Services Committee recognized the difficult financial situation the state faces, and restricted comments in the memo to policy issues, according to committee chair Rep. Ann Pugh, D-South Burlington.
“Regrettably, it’s not a change in policy to say we’re going to be doing less — there’s less money available,” Pugh said.
The memo includes recommendations on language for the bill, and notes whether the committee supports or disagrees with certain human services proposals in the governor’s budget.
The Department for Children and Families had proposed finding savings by counting part of a federal Social Security disability benefit (SSI) as income when calculating the amount that a household can receive under Reach Up, a state benefit program for families with children.
The committee voiced concerns over the administration’s proposal, noting that it is a significant change of policy that does not “advance the Committee’s goal of assisting Vermonters to move out of poverty.”
Ultimately, the members of the committee did not come out against the proposal because Pugh said they were unable to find an alternate source of funding.
According to Christopher Curtis, a staff attorney for Vermont Legal Aid, the change in SSI policy will have a big impact on low-income Vermonters.
“We’re very pleased that the committee has said that cutting Reach Up household income because a family member with a disability lives there represents a significant change in policy that hinders the ability of Vermonters to escape poverty,” Curtis said in an email statement on Thursday.
In the memo, the Human Services Committee accepted the $6 million budget cut to the state’s Low Income Home and Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), referencing the accounting that the state was able to do to keep the eligibility level at 185 percent of the federal poverty level. Federal LIHEAP funds can only go to households that are at or below 150 percent of the federal poverty level.
“Although we were disappointed that the committee chose not to speak out against the LIHEAP cuts, we were pleased that they did support keeping the current eligibility,” said Karen Lafayette, of the Vermont Low Income Advocacy Council.
