The House Committee on Appropriations has decided to increase the governor’s funding proposal for the state’s coronavirus relief assistance for immigrants.
The Appropriations committee upped Republican Gov. Phil Scott’s $2 million program to $5 million — the amount that, according to the fiscal note, would cover all adults and children in the state who missed out on the federal checks sent out this spring.
“I certainly understand the pressing needs elsewhere in the budget but I would like us to try to stretch ourselves to find a total of five,” Vice Chair Mary Hooper, D-Montpelier, said.
“If we’re going to do something, let’s do it right,” said ranking member Peter Fagan, R-Rutland. “Let’s allot $5 million into this and if there is any money left over at the end of the
year, it will be swept back at the end of the year because that’s what happens at the end of the budget.”
“I think we set out to do this right and then we go from there,” he added.
The governor had originally put forward a plan for a $2 million fund to cover one-time direct payments of $1,200 to adults and $500 to children who had been left out of the federal assistance payments. Migrant Justice and a number of lawmakers in the Statehouse have pushed for a higher financial number that would cover all of the eligible Vermont residents.
Under the program each eligible adult would receive $1,200 and each eligible child $500. While it is not known how many people could be impacted by the program, data provided from multiple sources suggest approximately 3,500 to 4,000 adults and up to 1,000 children could receive benefits, according to the Joint Fiscal Office.
By the JFO’s estimate the fiscal impact to cover all those eligible is between $4.4 million and $5.3 million.
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