The Democratic leaders of Vermont’s House and Senate say they support allowing those who were kicked out of the state’s emergency housing motel program this summer to return.
A joint statement released Monday afternoon by House Speaker Jill Krowinski, D-Burlington, and Senate Pro Tem Becca Balint, D-Windham, marks a new shift in the state’s debate about homelessness.
At the outset of the pandemic, the state used federal funds to house virtually all Vermonters experiencing homelessness in vacant motels. When Covid-19 cases plummeted in the wake of a successful vaccination campaign, Gov. Phil Scott’s administration — with the Legislature’s apparent consent — this summer began the process of phasing out the program. On July 1, roughly 700 people were pushed out when new eligibility requirements were put in place.
But housing advocates have leveraged a Delta-variant-fueled spike in cases, the housing crisis and rapidly cooling temperatures to press state leaders to do more. And the political winds appear to be shifting.
Another 500 people in the motel program were set to lose their vouchers in September. But Scott, a Republican, intervened days ahead of that deadline to say all those in the program could stay at least another 30 days. In October, he extended this until Dec. 31 and announced motel residents could stay another 18 months under a new program. About 1,500 Vermonters are staying in motels through the program.
But the governor has thus far held firm against the demand that the motel program revert to its original pandemic eligibility criteria, which would allow the hundreds currently ineligible for rooms to return.
Brenda Siegel, a former gubernatorial candidate and anti-poverty activist, and Josh Lisenby, a former motel resident, have been sleeping on the Statehouse steps for two and a half weeks to pressure Scott to do just this.
The pair held a small rally Monday with clergy, a handful of lawmakers and advocates. Neither Krowinski nor Balint attended, but they provided Seigel with a statement ahead of time to read at the event. The administration and legislature must continue to fund the program beyond Dec. 31, it said, and those who have lost their vouchers should be allowed to return.
“We know there is more to do this legislative session and beyond to help move those served by the [motel] program into permanent, supportive housing. Although these medium- and long-term solutions are complicated and will require due diligence from all interested parties, we know what the right thing is to do in the short term,” it continued.
Scott does not plan to meet with Siegel and Lisenby, Scott’s spokesperson Jason Maulucci said in an email. But they were granted an interview on Monday with Sean Brown, the commissioner of the Department for Children and Families, which administers the motel program. Maulucci added that the department is considering a change to its adverse weather conditions policy, which annually relaxes eligibility for the motel program during periods of extreme cold.
“If any of the 717 individuals remain unhoused, they will be eligible [for] a motel through [adverse weather conditions],” he wrote.
Siegel acknowledged that Brown had discussed the cold-weather program at their meeting Monday and said the commissioner had suggested she would likely appreciate the contemplated update “a little bit more.”
“I told him that unless we actually keep people inside for the whole winter that I will not like it very much more at all,” she said.
