The Senate Institutions Committee met Thursday, April 24, to finalize the legal section of H.494, the capital bill, and review recent wording changes to the draft bill, a committee member said.

A committee member said the committee reviewed draft 3.1 (dated 04/23) and approved clarifying language on page 9 that specifies a competitive grant will be made to the Department of Housing and Community Development to establish a new recovery residence “for the criteria of the Vermont Recovery Housing Program action plan.” The member said the item previously identified the recipient as Saint Albans House; the dollar amount tied to the line was not changed in the revision.

The committee member also described a change on page 10 that clarifies a report the members requested from the Joint Fiscal Office. The change asks the JFO to analyze the use of the cash fund versus bonding as mechanisms for financing, and to report back so lawmakers can discuss the statute adopted in 2023 and consider options when they are not under immediate time pressure.

No formal vote outcome on the bill text is recorded in the provided transcript segment. The committee’s agenda also included a legislative information-technology update from Kevin Moore, director of information technology, but that presentation was listed for later and is not covered in the available transcript excerpt.

Committee discussion centered on precise statutory wording and process: specifying the grant recipient and the criteria that will guide the recovery-residence award, and securing a JFO analysis to inform whether projects are financed from a cash fund or through bonding under the 2023 statute. The transcript did not record a final recorded vote in the excerpt provided.