A small coalition of Democratic and Progressive lawmakers in the Vermont House is threatening to vote to uphold Gov. Phil Scott’s predicted veto of the state budget if legislative leaders do not agree to continue funding a pandemic-era emergency housing program in motels.
House and Senate budget-writers are at work reconciling their versions of H.494, the state’s $8.5 billion budget. But on one topic, both chambers have thus far basically agreed: Vermont should end a program that, since 2020, has paid to house the vast majority of the state’s unhoused residents in motels and hotels.
Federal funding that once underwrote the effort, which costs close to $8 million a month, has dried up, and both chambers have signed off on spending plans that largely would revert benefits back to the pre-pandemic status quo.
But a small group of House lawmakers is trying to change that consensus. Rep. Mari Cordes, D-Lincoln, an organizer of the effort, said six Democrats (herself included) have agreed to vote to sustain a gubernatorial veto on the budget if additional funding is not added to continue the program.
“The budget is critical, but also being a statement of our values — I cannot withstand upholding a budget that is so inhumane and so immoral,” she said Friday.
Rep. Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, P/D-Burlington, who leads the House’s five-member Progressive caucus, said it’s possible the caucus, which has asked for the program to be fully funded, would do so as well. She implied it was likely, but stopped just short of making such a pledge.
“We just haven’t officially had that conversation, so I don’t want to speak out of turn from my caucus yet,” she said. But Mulvaney-Stanak added that she, personally, would vote to uphold a veto if the program isn’t funded. Rep. Taylor Small, P/D-Winooski, confirmed to VTDigger that she was prepared to do the same, although she stressed that she would much prefer House and Senate budget negotiators hash out a deal instead.
“My vote will be dependent on how the budget addresses the homelessness crisis — I’m still holding on to (some) hope,” she wrote in a text.
The move is risky. Democrats and Progressives together control 109 votes in the 150-member chamber. It takes a simple majority to pass a bill, and a two-thirds majority of members present to override a veto. Scott has telegraphed a veto on the budget is highly likely, as Democrats are planning to raise taxes and fees to fund a slate of new initiatives, but he’s never outright said he would.
And the Republican governor also has been adamant that the motel program must ramp down, arguing the state simply cannot afford to pick up the tab now that federal funding is gone.
His administration had requested $26 million for Vermont’s general assistance program, a figure lawmakers in both chambers had so far accepted. For the first time Thursday, in the waning days of the session, state officials outlined in detail to members of the House General and Housing Committee what that money would cover.
Outside the winter months — when the state plans to relax eligibility for its motel-based shelter program — a person receiving Social Security or disability benefits would be entitled to 28 days of shelter in a single calendar year. So, too, would someone 65 or older, or in their third trimester of pregnancy.
Rep. Emilie Krasnow, D-South Burlington, visibly bristling with frustration, asked administration officials what she should tell her friends and constituents.
“What can I tell them when they asked me: Why didn’t you help me? But why do I have no place to go? Why is this bench where I sleep now?” she said.
Sarah Phillips, director of the Office of Economic Opportunity at the Department for Children and Families, replied that was a “tough question.”
“We can never make promises about what might be available for anyone in any particular moment. But that doesn’t mean that we’re going to stop caring and we’re gonna stop trying to show up,” she said.
“So whether it’s you, or me, or community partners or anyone else walking by someone who’s experiencing homelessness. I think offering help, making a connection, making a referral, connecting people to those in Chittenden County — you’ve got some great partners,” she added, before Krasnow cut her off.
“Yeah, unfortunately, all our shelters are full,” Krasnow said.
“Yeah, I appreciate that,” Phillips said. “I do.”
