Montpelier
One day earlier, the spending plan, which does not raise any new taxes or fees, gained preliminary approval on a 143-1 vote in the House.
Republican Gov. Phill Scott has threatened to veto any budget that raised taxes or fees.
The bill constitutes a 1 percent growth in spending over the previous fiscal year, taking into account all funds, including federal and education money sources.
Lawmakers heard a half-dozen proposed amendments to the $5.8 billion budget bill on Friday.
An amendment from Reps. Adam Greshin, I-Warren, and Mark Higley, R-Lowell, would have closed the prison in Windsor and used the proceeds to fund new investments in child care, the judiciary, job training and more.
Greshin said the amendment was not offered to fix the budget but to “make a good bill even better.”
“There’s a certain symmetry in closing a prison and investing the savings in early education,” Greshin said.
Though the amendment had backing from many Republicans, it did not have sufficient support to pass, and Greshin withdrew it.
The House defeated an amendment, offered by Rep. Robin Chesnut-Tangerman, P-Middletown Springs, which would have transferred $200,000 from the Agency of Commerce and Community Development to the Department of Labor to fund a job training program.
The measure was defeated, but was well-received by the head of the Commerce and Economic Development Committee. The chairman, Rep. Bill Botzow, D-Pownal, said he would be interested in looking into the subject further.
A section of the budget that cuts $340,000 in funding to a program that provides motel vouchers for homeless people on cold nights came up again on the second day of discussion on the floor.
The House rejected an amendment offered by Rep. Diana Gonzalez, P-Winooski, that would have used money from a reserve fund to support the “cold weather exception” program.
“Emergency housing is the last step of desperation for many Vermonters,” Gonzalez said on the Vermont House floor in Montpelier. The motel voucher program is “the absolute last stop,” she said.
She acknowledged an appropriation in the budget of $150,000 to help open more homeless shelters but said they may not be able to fully meet the need.
“We would leave Vermonters literally out in the cold before we have this program and these facilities up and running,” Gonzalez said.
Elizabeth Ready of the John Graham Housing Services Center, which serves Addison County, called the motel voucher program a “backstop.”
For some people the group works with, motel rooms are a better option, she said. Some people may have mental health issues that make the conditions of a communal shelter more challenging, for instance.
The cut to the voucher program, she said, is “devastating.”
“There’s no way that people can argue with a straight face that those people are going to be inside,” Ready said.
Rep. Matt Trieber, D-Bellows Falls, clerk of the House Appropriations Committee, responded on the floor that the panel was trying to invest money in the programs that have been proven most successful. Housing people in shelters, rather than motels, tends to be better because individuals can access more services.
The bill also allows the Agency of Human Services to use $200,000 within the budget flexibly; that money could go to support motel vouchers if needed. However, advocates question whether that will suffice.
The House approved a separate amendment related to the motel voucher program, offered by Rep. George Till, D-Jericho, that expands the range of people who are defined as “vulnerable,” which allows them greater access to motel vouchers.
Under the amendment, the group now includes women at any stage of pregnancy, rather than only in their third trimester, and families with children of any age, rather than children under the age of 6.
A separate amendment, offered by Rep. Johannah Donovan, D-Burlington, offers more guidance to the secretary of human services when carrying out a directive to cut $2.5 million in grants to community-based programs. The reductions are to be made with the goal of minimizing the impact on Vermonters.
The budget passed on a voice vote with little opposition on Friday. The miscellaneous tax bill, which raises $5 million through increasing compliance with current tax law, also passed on a voice vote.
The two bills now will move to the Senate for consideration.