The House Appropriations Committee on March 20 tentatively kept a 70/30 split for the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board (VHCB) and discussed a package of housing allocations that the committee agreed to carry forward for reconciliation with legislative fiscal staff.

Committee members said they would initially accept the governor’s recommendations for several VHFA programs while reserving the right to adjust totals after fiscal office reconciliation. The package discussed included a $10 million allocation for a middle-income homeownership program, $7.5 million for a rental revolving loan fund, $7.5 million for the bond bank program, $2,800,000 for a disability housing pilot and $2,000,000 for a manufactured-homes program. Committee members also discussed giving an additional $5,000,000 to VHCB but did not finalize that amendment.

Why it matters: The committee is balancing investments that support both affordable housing production and conservation priorities. Several members said VHCB’s conservation funding leverages other public and private dollars and argued for preserving that match funding while still increasing housing resources.

Committee members described the rental revolving loan as a loan program intended to subsidize builders to produce multi-unit rental housing; proceeds are intended to be repaid and reused. The middle-income program was described as a shared-equity approach to preserve affordability in single-family homeownership projects. Members noted both programs operate differently and expressed interest in allowing VHFA and related agencies flexibility to allocate within named programs based on market conditions.

Members discussed program design details including: whether funds should be delivered as a lump sum to VHFA so the agency can deploy based on market conditions; whether covenants tied to certain programs will preserve long-term affordability; and how loan repayment may affect future program capacity. Committee members also flagged that some VHFA-supported projects can serve households above typical low-income thresholds (up to 150% of area median income in some cases).

The committee set modest, targeted line items for smaller initiatives: $300,000 for recovery residence expansion, $15,000 for a universal-design study intended to identify standardized accessible housing designs, and a small pilot for disability housing as noted above. Members agreed the opioid settlement fund can sustain existing recovery residences but cannot be used to create new projects, so the committee proposed the separate $300,000 allocation for new recovery residences.

Committee leaders repeatedly emphasized these figures are preliminary. Fiscal staff and the Joint Fiscal Office (JFO) will reconcile the totals and the committee could adjust percentages or add contingency funding. Members asked that the final bill language and highlighted sections be made clear in the bill packet before formal passage.

The committee did not take a formal roll-call vote on the package during the March 20 discussion; members described the agreement as tentative and subject to final accounting.

Members and agencies mentioned during the discussion included VHCB (Vermont Housing & Conservation Board), VHFA (Vermont Housing Finance Agency / Housing Finance Authority — referenced variously as VHFA/HFA), and references to property transfer tax allocations that fund some housing programs.

Committee next steps: staff will incorporate agreed language into the draft bill, fiscal staff will finalize cost estimates over the weekend, and the committee planned to revisit numbers and any late-arriving items on Monday.