Lawmakers in the House passed the first major money bill of the year Friday.
A bill that adjusts the current fiscal year state budget passed the lower chamber with 141 votes in favor and none opposed.
With the adjustment, the state will spend $5.75 billion in the current fiscal year, a reduction from the budget of more than $5.76 billion initially passed.
Since approval of the budget for fiscal year 2017 in May, projections for the amount of revenue the state was expected to bring into the general fund were downgraded twice by a total of more than $45 million.
The second revenue downgrade, by $24.6 million, occurred less than a week before the House Appropriations Committee wrapped up work on the budget adjustment and sent it to the floor.
To meet the adjustment, budget writers looked to areas with amounts of money that exceeded initial expectations. About $18 million came from federal funding to the Agency of Human Services, which mainly resulted from a higher federal match offered for children’s health programs.
The adjustment also draws on $7.9 million from the State Health Care Resources Fund, $4.5 million from additional money that came into the Department of Financial Regulation, and $2.2 million from tobacco lawsuit settlement funds.
While the bill reduces state spending across the board by about $22 million in the current year, it does move to increase the appropriations to some areas where there have been increasing pressures.
One of the largest increases in appropriations goes to the Department for Children and Families for expenses related to payroll, driven in part by a calculation mistake.
An additional $3.5 million is going to Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont for a 2015 settlement related to billing.
Lawmakers directed an additional $770,000 to help fund the merger of Lyndon and Johnson state colleges to form Northern Vermont University.
House Democrats praised the legislation in a statement. Speaker Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, said the bill is “an investment in Vermont families and Vermont communities.”
House Appropriations Chair Kitty Toll, D-Danville, said it is a “responsible approach” to balancing the budget while meeting changing spending needs.
House Minority Leader Don Turner, R-Milton, said the Republican caucus has been supportive of reining in spending.
“This budget adjustment does that,” Turner said.
Turner said he was happy to see that the adjusted budget brings the rate of growth in spending from state funds down to 2.8 percent, a reduction from the budget passed last spring, which grew over the previous year by a rate of 3 percent.
“I’d still like it lower,” he said.
