The House Appropriations Committee on Monday advanced a $6.1 billion state budget that makes major investments in child care, economic development and environmental protections.
The House’s budget bill reflects the legislative priorities of the Statehouse’s Democratic majority, and Gov. Phil Scott, both of whom are taking a more collaborative budget approach this session, after two years marked by tension over the state’s spending package.
The bill prioritizes millions of dollars in additional spending on programs and initiatives to combat climate change, focusing largely on electric vehicles and state-subsidized home weatherization.
Matching the governor’s budget proposal, which was rolled out in January, the House’s budget bill includes $1.5 million in incentives for Vermonters to purchase and lease electric vehicles and $500,000 for the state to purchase electric vehicles for its own fleet.
Proposed changes to Vermont’s fuel tax, including a 2 cent hike, and a requirement for municipalities and nonprofits to pay the levy would bring in more than $5 million in new revenue for low-income weatherization.
And while Democrats have yet to settle on a long-term funding source for clean water — and have rejected Scott’s proposal to finance clean water projects — they have committed to doing so this year.
Budget writers are expecting the state to raise up to $8 million in additional ongoing money for the priority in the coming fiscal year.
“I think that once all of that is totaled up, at the end we will see that Vermont is really pushing toward a cleaner, healthier climate and environment,” said the chair of the appropriations committee, Rep. Kitty Toll, speaking of the budget’s climate investments.
Lawmakers agreed with the governor’s recommendation to invest $3 million into the Vermont State Colleges to prevent a 3 percent tuition increase next year.
And under the House budget proposal, $8 million would be spent on new child care subsidies, for which increased funding has been a shared priority in both the Statehouse and the governor’s office.
But in some areas, the House and the governor disagree over the budget bill.
The Appropriations Committee decided to restore funding to Support and Services at Home (SASH), a program that provides in-home care to seniors, and which the governor had proposed reducing by $250,000.
Administration officials planned on cutting SASH funding hoping that OneCare, the state’s accountable care organization, would be able to take on the task of coordinating the program.
But lawmakers and affordable housing advocates argued that cutting the program’s funding and staffing in affordable housing units could effectively eliminate it.
“Our concern is that it would begin a dismantling of the program,” Erhard Manke, a lobbyist for the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition, said of the proposed cut last week. “This is a program that keeps just over 5,000 frail elders living more independently.”
Sen. Tim Ashe, D/P Chittenden, highlighted the administration’s SASH cut as one of the largest disagreements between the Senate and the governor in the budget this year.
Lawmakers also restored funding for the Salisbury Fish Culture Station, the fish hatchery which the Scott administration had proposed closing to save $250,000. The proposed cut had sparked public outcry from anglers, who were concerned that closing the hatchery would harm the state’s trout population as well as fishing tourism.
House lawmakers on the Ways and Means Committee raised additional revenue to keep the hatchery open for another year by slightly hiking the cost of fishing and hunting licenses.
Because Democrats in the House declined to take up Scott’s paid family leave program, which would have required a $1 million investment of state dollars next year, lawmakers were able to invest roughly the same amount into in-home care programs for the elderly, giving workers a 2 percent raise.
Increasing funding for the state’s elderly in-home care system was a priority for many committee members this year.
“I think there’s concern that by underfunding that system over time you’re not allowing Vermonters to get the services to which they’re entitled, which could possibly raise costs in the future in nursing home care,” said Rep. Matt Treiber, D-Bellows Falls, a member of the committee.
Lawmakers didn’t end up funding the governor’s $1 million proposal for new rental housing rehabilitation incentives.
The plan would have given rental property owners loans to renovate their housing, and was one of the governor’s major affordable housing proposals this year.
However, unlike last year, lawmakers agreed to fund several of the Scott administration’s economic development proposals aimed at attracting new workers to the state.
Some of these proposals were tacked onto a sweeping economic development bill with a $1.6 million price tag. The legislation includes funding for the Agency of Commerce and Community Development to establish a program to identify, recruit and provide relocation assistance for out-of-staters to move to Vermont.
Many committee members said that collaboration and their relationship with Scott administration during the budgeting process has been, on the whole, much smoother this year.
“It feels more like we’re partners and pulling in tandem here,” said Rep. Mary Hooper, who sits on the committee.
The budget now heads to the House floor, and lawmakers are expected to vote on it later this week.
