Vermont Legislature SmartTranscripts:

[Robin Scheu]: Good morning. This is the House Appropriations Committee. It's Wednesday, 03/18/2026. It's just after 10AM. And we are going to get the latest iteration of the priorities that each of us has given to James. It's anonymize. Feel like that's a word. It's a funny word. Not atomized, but anonymized, which means your names are not on it. Nobody's names are on it, but you can see how they are. So James, do you want to discuss those out? And then if you haven't emailed it to Dave, if you could email Dave. Are not I'll roll

[James Duffy]: that right now.

[Robin Scheu]: At this point, they are just our sheets. Monetized but anonymized.

[Wayne Laroche]: Pretty good.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: Okay,

[Robin Scheu]: that's fine. So, H558, which we talked about before, that's why we have to keep checking the agenda. The Senate's going be on the floor at eleven, so our alleged counsel needs to be on the floor at eleven. So, we're going to do It still says 11:30. Did you change

[Unidentified Committee Member]: Yeah, it's at 11:30.

[Robin Scheu]: Oh, thought she was coming earlier. Oh, see. I thought I was going in wrong direction. So it's now at 11:30 instead of eleven. Yes. Got it.

[David Yacovone]: Okay. So,

[Robin Scheu]: mostly this is sort of an opportunity to make sure yours is right. I'm sure you'll all recognize your own, whatever yours is, but also sort of see where people are, tiers one, two and three. And I went over this a little bit last night and I was delighted to see how much commonality there was. It's not 100%, but there's that many things in common. It's nice. So do you have any observations on that? Do you have

[Martha Feltus]: the other one ready to put up?

[James Duffy]: Yes, I'm joining the Zoom now, and I can pull up the screen behind me.

[Robin Scheu]: So we'll look again. James had done a ranking of number of votes kind of thing and how it looked based on ours, and it was not complete when he did it a couple days ago and how it complete. So I wanted to give everybody a sense of what that looks like. And then it also has whether it was tier one, two, or three, which to some extent matters less. Big, yeah. Thank you.

[James Duffy]: Since James Duffy joined fiscal, as the chair said, you have in front of you your updated submissions for the ranking exercises. I've received some tweaks from several of you over the last several days. So this is anonymized, but you'll all recognize which one is yours on this sheet. So please do take a look and touch base with me today if you see any corrections to be made. But what I have in front of and behind me are the results of prioritization exercises should be correct within, you know, maybe a vote here or two. But if I hear from any of you today with updates to your submission, this will be tweaked. But this is this is final, like I said, within perhaps a vote here or there. So what I have behind me are the proposals in the order of appropriation proposals in the order of the unweighted votes they received. Right? So you all voted on different uses for funds in FY27 based on tier one, two, or three. I'm working with the chair to prepare sheet models for the weighted score for those results, and maybe apply multiplier to things that were voted on in tier one. But behind me is just the ranked order of what got the number of raw votes across the tiers for the different appropriations. So we should

[Robin Scheu]: look at this for clarity, and if there are questions, so I have a question, for example, and you have the bill number, so JAM Safety was the specific bill that we had all heard, and so that was right at the top. The home health skilled nursing increase, I'm a little unclear what that is because I know we have things related to the DAs and SSAs, to home and community based services. And I'm probably missing some, but I'm not sure how this is different or how that plays into the others. I'm just unclear. Does somebody have it stolen? Please.

[Nolan Langweil]: For the record, whole nine months of the fiscal office. For context, my understanding is that all the different providers decided to do one consistent task, which is 3.5%. The VA has asked 3.5% of other providers. So this is like the VNA, this is a specific, I forget section B3 something, either. And it's skilled nursing, pediatric, it's like three particular codes and specifically the VNA is less than increase for them.

[Robin Scheu]: So that is separate. So when we say we're interested in an increase and we're not using percentages, but an increase for the DAs and SSAs and home and community based services, it doesn't include that group?

[Nolan Langweil]: Correct. They're separate from them. But there are different codes in the budget. Like it might be B30310, right? It's not a PA, it might

[David Yacovone]: be three twenty four or three forty one, so it's

[Nolan Langweil]: a different section of the budget. A different task.

[Robin Scheu]: Okay, and I'm guessing that not all of us knew that, or maybe I'm the only one who didn't understand all that. But is there a way to get that list from you so we could see, if we decide we want to do something, we don't leave out people because I know every year we end up saying, well, the so and so's got left out and it's not because we intended to leave them out, it's because we didn't know.

[Nolan Langweil]: So, might be part of the home and community based, but they're not part of VA's necessarily. So, I can get you a number of everything in each full job. Yes.

[Robin Scheu]: What that would be really important.

[Nolan Langweil]: Then you pick a number, not a percent.

[Robin Scheu]: We pick a number, not a percent. Mike? And

[David Yacovone]: then Dave, you're good? Okay, Dave. And just to, when Chair Wood came here, she told us, I told my committee, you can't put down a cost of living increase, we can't afford that. So consequently, it didn't appear on the sheets, except House Healthcare did it for the DAs. Anyway, not for others. That explains a little bit why some are there and some aren't.

[Robin Scheu]: Okay. And I don't I don't think it's ever been our intent to leave out groups. I could be wrong, but that's not my intent. We need to press okay. So thank you, Nolan. That would be very helpful.

[David Yacovone]: And should you send that to my legislator? Apologies.

[James Duffy]: Yeah. So I just pressed send, so it should Oh,

[David Yacovone]: thank you. Be in there in a moment. There it is. Came just thank you so much.

[Robin Scheu]: And the other thing you'll see is that there are different dollar amounts. So James just put them all in, and that would be for us to decide. But we know the topic. So we see rate increases for organizations and that range from $1.46 to $5,800,000 And some of that may also include global commitment, not just or may not. But anyway, that's a decision that's part of the conversation that we'll have.

[James Duffy]: That's exactly right. So some of those different numbers reflect genuine different priorities of how much we spent. So Meals on the Wheels, different submissions suggested $500,000 versus $1,000,000 appropriation, whereas some of these, particularly the global commitment items, I think there was varying submission, whether the number reflected gross, general fund split, or if there was uncertainty on what that split is.

[Robin Scheu]: Thank you. Thank you, Nolan. I did have this one, but you're saying that the VNAs are included in that. They're in that one. They're in this one. Okay. All right. So, we want to keep going down any So, homelessness has various numbers in there?

[James Duffy]: Another global commitment item, LEP, storing funding for an elder care program that was proposed for funding reduction in the FY '27 gov rec. I don't have a whole lot of detail on this one for the committee, but I'm sure folks who prioritize this highly. Is

[Robin Scheu]: there somebody or a couple of people that can explain that a bit more than just the elder care part? Dave, are you familiar with that one?

[David Yacovone]: Yes. The elder care clinician services was funded in part by Dale and in part by the Department of Mental Health. Dale did not reduce and their governors recommend any funding for the elder care The according to the commissioner of mental health did reduce their share with the rationale that people can go to Medicaid, counselors who can bill Medicaid to get their services in lieu of the elder care clinician, which was attached to the area in which he was unaging. Does that help?

[Robin Scheu]: Work would be shifted to somebody else? And would they be getting paid any extra

[David Yacovone]: Theoretically. Work

[Robin Scheu]: Would

[Wayne Laroche]: there be any less service, any less provided to the elders One way

[Nolan Langweil]: they had to

[David Yacovone]: do it. I don't know. Well, I mean I question whether they get the access anyways, as opposed to somebody who's dedicated to do elder care and referred from the area agency and agent case managers. The way I saw Mr. Yacovone, might be good to call etcetera, etcetera, as opposed to me picking up the phone and saying, Oh, Wayne's a counselor in Williamstown, I'll call him. My concern is we do a lot with kids. We spend a lot of

[Nolan Langweil]: money on food and stuff It and everything seems to

[Wayne Laroche]: me that we kind of neglect the elderly somewhat. And I think that's, if that's true, that's my feeling. I have the data that proves it. But I don't think that's right, if all the elderly we have

[Robin Scheu]: these Right, and growing. None of us is getting any younger either.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: It's in our best interest. Well, I mean, I've talked with providers, and they have said that if this money is not available, they will be asked to provide them for free based on the contracts that they have and whether this service is included or not. And so

[Martha Feltus]: So that's helpful to get that understanding.

[Robin Scheu]: Let me see if there's some other Access Prevent Child Abuse, it came under a couple different names but now we have it together. Advance Vermont, whose is that? Well, it's education. I thought it was a lot guidance and

[Tiffany Bluemle]: preparation for the future of commerce.

[Martha Feltus]: A non degree certificate for

[Thomas Stevens]: grants.

[Wayne Laroche]: Otherwise they don't go. We did fund this in commerce. Yeah,

[Martha Feltus]: I think it's part of, I think there was a piece that was part of DSAC.

[Robin Scheu]: Don't believe it's Essex. No, it's not Essex. It's completely separate. And I'm hearing mixed things around the building about it, so I'm going to do a little more digging up.

[Wayne Laroche]: Take a look at things

[Thomas Stevens]: like CDLs,

[Wayne Laroche]: other kinds of certifications that they could get with what was intended for originally. Because he and I were together, I think we did.

[Robin Scheu]: Yeah. So I think there's a little more digging I want to do on that one to understand, because I know it comes up every year. Is there something in the budget already for this? No. There's zero in the budget? Okay. All right.

[David Yacovone]: Thank you.

[Robin Scheu]: That's good to know. So the two eleven, there were two parts to it. There was about 98,000 to do this circle loop.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: It's big old family.

[Robin Scheu]: Close loop. Yes, thank you. Thank you. You knew what we

[Tiffany Bluemle]: were talking about. So that was

[Robin Scheu]: the part that they were looking at using the HIT fund. Well, they actually, at one point, was looking at using the whole map, but we can't do that.

[David Yacovone]: And we can't use the

[Robin Scheu]: Right, so that part is going to be addressed elsewhere that's not in the budget, the closed loop referral part. And so the question is what is left that they are looking for? Because I

[Tiffany Bluemle]: think that three thirty two was a Well, thirty two though has a general fund and a total commitment.

[Robin Scheu]: Does that all include the closed loop referrals?

[Tiffany Bluemle]: It does. That was not an official ask.

[Robin Scheu]: Oh, that was even

[Tiffany Bluemle]: in the healthcare committee's ask, actually. So the general fund is what? That the one hundred and forty? Or

[Nolan Langweil]: do you know what the general fund is for that? The

[James Duffy]: submissions that identified a general fund global commitment split identified the one hundred forty as general fund, and then with the total ask, with global commitment and general fund being 332,000.

[Robin Scheu]: All right.

[Wayne Laroche]: In the back of my mind, I thought I remembered testimony on this. At some point, was call center for this or I thought it was who they said that they couldn't refer any people after a certain period of time, but they didn't want to run any after to have period at

[David Yacovone]: night. Just had that,

[James Duffy]: yeah. If

[Tiffany Bluemle]: we cut this, this money doesn't really pay for that overnight. It's not like you can just divide the day into equal shifts, because they get the bulk of their calls from 4PM to 07:10. And in order to actually continue to staff that, need is for that full 03:32 and general fundable. To

[Robin Scheu]: staff that's busy time, not the overnight.

[Wayne Laroche]: So I just want get clarification that we recognize what they

[Robin Scheu]: call Yes, yes. Okay. The food bank has between $1,000,000 and $3,000,000 attached to it. So we have a variety of things there.

[James Duffy]: That had been submitted as a $5,000,000 request from the food bank, but with three different buckets within it. A portion had been for the Vermonters Feeding Vermonters Grant Program, and two others had been, I believe, for different distribution and partnership models within the Vermont Food Bank Network.

[Robin Scheu]: And then NCRS is the Conservation District, which has a variety of options being proposed by committee members. The AAA, we need to do. That was one of the ones I think Dave you asked about this morning. That will need to go into the budget for FY27 because we committed to it. Like the budget was in the SBA. Right, right. So we'll make sure that that gets in the budget. Okay, so legal aid had seven different line items for legal aid. And the first one we're seeing is the health care advocate. And then flood safety. So we had dam safety and flood safety, all water related. So is this a bill, the Flood Safety Act?

[Nolan Langweil]: No, that's about that one.

[Robin Scheu]: Okay, it's a request to go in budget.

[Nolan Langweil]: Yeah, but it's also part of that one time money from the emissions program, Right, so we can have that

[Robin Scheu]: that would be part of the larger conversation. That's Okay. I just want to be sure we're clarifying what things are. So it's not an Okay. The Human Rights Commission has a bunch of different numbers. Is there any global commitment for the Human Rights Commission? Tiff, do you want to say something?

[Tiffany Bluemle]: No. I just am catching something. On the health care ad, Tiff, those numbers aren't right. The general fund amount is

[Wayne Laroche]: 110.

[Robin Scheu]: Yeah, it's 110.

[David Yacovone]: On the portion number.

[James Duffy]: I that

[Nolan Langweil]: The record, I went to confuse it, because it's bill back and DC. So we bill back, we get the bill back which is 27.5% of the industry's agreement, careful bill back, then we get the industry's part and we take that and that becomes the general fund for DC. So it's very confusing. So I'll get you the I think it is the name for us get the grades around 110 but we'll confirm that.

[Robin Scheu]: Okay, we'll need those exact numbers.

[James Duffy]: It's my understanding too. Don't know if that information was available to you all as your patient's consent subsides. I understand that. But yes, 110 is the latest number that I

[Robin Scheu]: But we can see where the topic itself lands in the scheme of things, so that's good.

[Wayne Laroche]: Back on the flood safety, Feet needs to be able to see that. What is their request on them?

[Nolan Langweil]: They're needing three Feet needs. What happened when PAC-one 121 passed? The agency had asked for 18 positions. 15 positions were authorized, 11 positions were funded. So we're trying to add three more, trying to fund three of those four positions of our fund.

[Robin Scheu]: So we need you guys to speak up, because I can hardly hear you. None

[Wayne Laroche]: of that was from the money, the big bench federal money that they were all limited terms.

[Nolan Langweil]: Yeah. These are not Harper funds.

[Wayne Laroche]: Okay, so where does the big 13 or whatever positions, what was the impetus for those first ones? A lot of money from the Feds?

[Nolan Langweil]: That was general fund money. The management. The 11 positions.

[Robin Scheu]: Remind us what was

[Nolan Langweil]: in the Acts.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: 121, you said?

[Nolan Langweil]: It's Act 121. I don't know all the details of that. River corridors are involved,

[Robin Scheu]: and

[Nolan Langweil]: things like that, items related to

[Robin Scheu]: It sounds like more resiliency work. Exactly. Flood resilience kind of I

[Wayne Laroche]: was just wondering if it was something that was subsequent for flood purposes, and then as things get repaired and everything, that need might be decreasing, right?

[Nolan Langweil]: No, it's more forward looking.

[Wayne Laroche]: It's forward looking. Forward looking. Then

[Robin Scheu]: Okay. And then I was asking on the Human Rights Commission. Is there any global commitment in that, or is that all general funds?

[James Duffy]: I believe that's all general fund. The asks from Human Rights Commission, and maybe folks want to speak to what they had in mind when they made their submissions, but those were three new positions in base for a total across those three positions of $368,000. And then there was also a request to restore the assumed gov rec vacancy savings to their base, would be 64 and a half thousand.

[Robin Scheu]: So that's why we have varying amounts.

[James Duffy]: Yeah. I think this had also come through as a recommendation from House General and Housing, which is why that's notated as HGH there.

[Robin Scheu]: Oh, Okay. All right. Thank you. And then the ERC Tier one, that was the other thing we did in the budget adjustment that we need to do. So Dave, there you see it. So that and the AAAs will be in the budget for this year.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: Then we

[James Duffy]: I'll just add the $1,072,000 figure that you see there is the global commitment figure and $450,000,000

[Robin Scheu]: previously. Right. That's why I wasn't freaking out about that. We have Home Share and Youth Council, the rental arrears program.

[James Duffy]: Rental arrears program is also carried in a bill before you all, I believe it's H-seven 72.

[Robin Scheu]: That's right. There are some things that are carried in bills that if we do them, we'll take them out of the bill, and that would be one of them. And then yesterday, we heard the emergency management bill that had like four things that could come out at one time in the budget which would

[Nolan Langweil]: be more appropriate spot for those so those are some other things that we've talked about right

[Robin Scheu]: and then we support the deaf and blind program that we talked about some AHEC for loan repayment for primary care so we're trying to address primary care

[Tiffany Bluemle]: We had the band program up above. Oh, this is radio?

[Thomas Stevens]: I'm

[Robin Scheu]: sorry. But I think the part above, it depends on what the amount was because the band request included 90,000 for community radio. So if it was $5.40, then that included both. If it was $4.50, it was just ban.

[James Duffy]: Yes. And one or two members submitted combined 5 and 40,000 recommendation and just for the purposes of showing the separate votes for those buckets. Is that correct?

[Robin Scheu]: There's some double count.

[James Duffy]: Submitted 500 no. There isn't double count. You submitted 540,000 recommendation. I've displayed those as a vote for the $450 for Ben and another vote for the $90

[Robin Scheu]: k. All

[Nolan Langweil]: right.

[Robin Scheu]: And then we have the ethics commission, varying amounts for the FTE that we talked about yesterday, the municipal attorney, the amortization task force.

[James Duffy]: I think you had noted yesterday that the HETI committee bill, 8,740, the correct amount in the bill will be $400,000

[Robin Scheu]: That's right. That's right. So it's not

[Nolan Langweil]: It had

[James Duffy]: originally been 500,000 and it will be corrected to 400,000 So

[Robin Scheu]: remind me what this Brattleboro emergency shelter is Yep. In that

[Michael Mrowicki]: This is one of the shelters across the state that have been set up, the emergency shelter. It's being set up at the Methodist Church in Brattleboro, and they need to make some accommodations to fulfill some fire and safety code since there, so they can expand the number of people that can serve there.

[Martha Feltus]: Okay. Have you talked to Teresa about that at all? What has she said? Does

[Michael Mrowicki]: she approve of it, or?

[Robin Scheu]: Well, or is it folded into her bill,

[Michael Mrowicki]: No, it's not. It's been an ongoing process, first of all, because initially fire and safety came in and said, oh, you can only have six people. Unless the temperature goes to 10 below zero. So we applied for a waiver and after a while we did get a waiver, but for the long term we need to make these accommodations. Our place has to be at Sprinklr's. But can't speak for her, but in our discussions she certainly approves of this. I don't know that she Okay,

[Robin Scheu]: so we can follow-up with her also, but I'm also wondering, would have to go to CF probably to be granted to Beth, and it's a private building. I'm just thinking out loud here. And so we would want some sort of a guarantee that they would continue to operate an emergency shelter, that we aren't just doing their sprinkler. So there would have to be some sort of MOU that has guaranteed.

[Michael Mrowicki]: They are committed to this.

[Robin Scheu]: Yeah, but we would just need some We

[Wayne Laroche]: always cover our bases. Wayne? I'm just surprised it rang so low, but how many people would it accommodate if it wasn't That

[Michael Mrowicki]: we're not clear. I mean, my sense is we formerly had one at another church in Brattleboro, and we used to take 30 to 40 people a night. And they have even more room at this place. The concerns about egress were really not found, that this is all on level ground, one floor, there's plenty of egress. The room they're using, the room between the sanctuary and another community room, just a real big hallway, common space, and people bring in sleeping bags, and they set up on the floor there.

[Robin Scheu]: So it's a cold weather shelter, No, not an ongoing,

[Michael Mrowicki]: it's not, it's one of the emergency shelters that Right, they set okay.

[Robin Scheu]: That's just helpful to have all that information. Serve, learn and earn, we have a couple of amounts, we've done that, and they have currently 500 in BASE. Who is this one?

[Tiffany Bluemle]: Is this CERES, John? You

[Robin Scheu]: have 500 in BASE? CERES. Or AG. It's either an AG or I think there's 500. He said there's 500 in BASE. So, this would be additional on top of the BASE. Okay. This is the CACFP program and agency of education to help fund sponsors. It's a food program for adults. I just see a child full of adults. Mike, did you want say something about that?

[Michael Mrowicki]: Yeah, we went through this last year. It's a program that needs sponsors and there are fewer and fewer organizations that are able to sponsor. And there are a couple still, and that's what this would help do. It would help facilitate moving a lot of good money out to the Okay.

[Robin Scheu]: And then a disabilities housing coordinator, that's not eight sixty one. 861 was the ADA coordinator for the state

[Tiffany Bluemle]: that we just heard this morning. Yeah. This was in the bill. Yeah. Think it Oh, no, this is one of the asks from the disabilities community. Because there isn't anybody at the agency that is actually coordinating disability housing in particular. There isn't somebody who's working with all the other departments to identify funding for and identify partners with whom they could work, etcetera.

[Robin Scheu]: And this is not emergency housing and homelessness. It's separate from that. This is for a lot of adults in our age range have adult children with disabilities, and they're very worried about where they are going to be. So the notion here is to have a coordinator to help oversee all of that. People with

[Wayne Laroche]: Down syndrome, things like that, that the parents can't take

[Robin Scheu]: care of? That's right, yes. It's often people with intellectual disabilities, maybe physical also, but yes, that's what that is. This is also known as SLOCAMP. I don't know if that's a really good acronym for any program, but that's what it is. That's the SLOCAMP. We gave some money in the past for helping loggers comply. Did we hear about that at any of

[Martha Feltus]: our public hearings? Do we know where this showed up? Because I don't remember an action I

[Robin Scheu]: think we got a letter.

[James Duffy]: It's been funded as a one time agency and it's not in the FY27 documents.

[Nolan Langweil]: Right.

[Robin Scheu]: The flood recovery from Northeast Kingdom.

[James Duffy]: So this one, there were a couple of votes just for flood recovery that referenced the representative was Zach's proposal, and then there was one vote that did specifically mention Northeast Kingdom. I've put them together here because I believe they referred to the same thing, but folks might want to speak to their individual votes.

[Robin Scheu]: Douglas Farnum Farnum is coming in with a proposal on money for that that does not involve our budget. So wouldn't that be happy news? So he's coming in at one for that. VSAC. I'm sorry Nolan has gone. I think anything with forgivable loans, we may be ending programs, and the RHTG is going to be picking up forgivable loans. So we should check with Nolan on that. Want to talk to this next slide, Dave?

[Tiffany Bluemle]: Community Health? Yes, well, I think every single city manager, lease department in Chittenden County wrote a number of us about this cut. It provides community outreach services that are not emergency related. It is about relationships and developing Majority Leader, Colton, tells a story about somebody who was kind of camped out behind her florist shop, And clearly homeless, clearly ill, and didn't really require a mobile crisis, which really is crisis oriented, but requires somebody to connect with this person who could connect them to services and not frighten them. And at any rate, that is what all of those Chittenden County towns and police departments and fire departments said makes a huge difference in this kind of web of support for people in communities. The Department of Mental Health has said that this is duplicative because of the mobile crisis units, but in fact, this serves a different purpose. And I am a strong proponent, because I live in Chittenden County, but because I really recognize that there are need kind of a one size doesn't fit all situations. And this is, I think, an important additional resource to have in the community. And all of the towns chip in. It's not like this is fully funded by the state. The municipalities across Chittenden County chip in, but the state commitment helps make it whole. What do we know then? What's the whole project work? Don't actually know what's the whole an example. I can find that out. Can find that out.

[Robin Scheu]: Yeah, that would be

[Tiffany Bluemle]: because that's the kind of thing where I'm wondering, I mean, thought it was only 160 and I'm thinking, gee, if there's six towns involved, they get these two, with $30,000 as part of the town budget, make it work. Well, also think that there's a rationale for making a state commitment as well. Well, I can go send that too. Because, you know, then we're not clogging emergency departments, you know, or But the point is that they're chipping them too. Yes, and I think we'll find out exactly what going to have. Make sure there is some locals.

[Robin Scheu]: Oh, there's definitely needs to Yeah, and then what I do remember, Representative Bishop came in and said, instead of having 28 of us, I have a letter from all 28 of the States. So clearly, know it's been working well. Tom?

[Thomas Stevens]: And I was just going to reiterate that question. Is this the program that Bishop came after?

[Robin Scheu]: Yes. So

[Thomas Stevens]: to have the support, at least folks in the house and the communities affected, is important.

[Robin Scheu]: I even got an email from the new town manager of Milton and former representative of the minority, saying, please, please keep this in. So yeah, it's definitely Well, but finding out when everybody chips in. Good. Okay. It's that one. AAA, additional funding. I guess that's over and above the

[James Duffy]: There have been a request received through the public hearings for I believe the original request was $60,000 of additional funding for the area agencies on aging. I don't have more information beyond that. I can see if there's written testimony posted to elaborate a little bit, but folks who who submitted this may also be able to speak to it.

[Robin Scheu]: Okay. And then the LAOB wanted some additional base?

[James Duffy]: Yes. The Landexis Opportunity Board had requested $104,000 dollars additional base this year. They had also requested 1,400,000.0 approximately in onetime funding in f y twenty seven. So these are two two suggested additional appropriations to LAOB.

[Nolan Langweil]: Okay.

[Robin Scheu]: And the Professional of Colors Network, I know Commerce supported that.

[Wayne Laroche]: Well, that was

[Thomas Stevens]: an appropriation that the administration forgot to put in. It was meant to be put in.

[Martha Feltus]: Okay.

[Thomas Stevens]: But they misread their stack of papers and so when they were doing their when they were

[Wayne Laroche]: doing the original budgets in October they had the incorrect information.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: Okay. Great. That's a good note. Yes ma'am. I talked with somebody from Commerce over the weekend and they said that that number actually what is needed is lower than that. So I'll confirm that number for the professional code. Yeah, okay, that would be good

[Robin Scheu]: to know. Much as James is taking notes on this. That's good. Thank you. Okay. Tenant landlord liaisons, that was part of the H-seven 72 bill. It looks like it's in the page numbers sort of showing up there with 260.

[James Duffy]: So the two suggestions for this item were 200,000 and 600,000. Currently, age seven seventy two, as it's before you, proposes $600,000 in funding in FY twenty seven for tenant landlord liaisons. And that would be through the Department of Children and Families as grants to community action agencies.

[Robin Scheu]: Remember more about that? Do you want to hear more about that one?

[Thomas Stevens]: It's two different things. It's I don't it's two different things.

[Wayne Laroche]: The 200 was in

[Thomas Stevens]: there just for CBOEO to restart or to recreate a landlord tenant education program. That specific number was used then I think the 600 was to the caps

[Nolan Langweil]: for their liaison program which is

[Thomas Stevens]: another it's not relatively relatively expensive.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: Education, right? It's education.

[Nolan Langweil]: What's the

[Tiffany Bluemle]: education approach? Yeah, in the 600

[Robin Scheu]: is the liaisons. And the liaisons?

[Thomas Stevens]: They're two different jobs. They're two different Two different programs.

[Nolan Langweil]: The CAPs have their

[Thomas Stevens]: own, they have their own tenant landlord relation programs that are different than BSHA or

[Wayne Laroche]: or the nonprofit housing. So for instance, here in Central

[Thomas Stevens]: Vermont, the Down Street has their own programs of where they work with people but the CAPs also deal with low income individuals who are

[Wayne Laroche]: having issues between landlords and tenants.

[Thomas Stevens]: It sounds duplicative but it's not.

[David Yacovone]: Good, thank you.

[Robin Scheu]: Sheriff rate increase, there's a

[Martha Feltus]: couple amounts. Trevor, do you want to talk about that?

[Trevor Squirrell]: Yeah, I would change that to judiciary, not the sheriff. And this is for security for deputy sheriffs. Now, the reason there's probably a couple numbers, they had a big ask of 1.9, which was assuming a fairly

[Michael Mrowicki]: high hourly

[Tiffany Bluemle]: rate. I

[Trevor Squirrell]: think they had two parts to their request. One was $600,000 and then bigger one was $500,000 $600,000 is to go from like $50 an hour to $57 which is, they're losing contracts because they're not paying enough money relative to what state government's paying elsewhere. So I think the more realistic ask here is probably in the 600.

[David Yacovone]: 600 or so? Okay.

[James Duffy]: And I'll note as well that the sheriffs were provided a rate increase for the services they provide to judiciary in the Budget Adjustment Act for FY '26 as well. I think the Budget Adjustment Act brought that rate up from 53,000 to 56,000 or 58,000 maybe. So that will be another decision

[Wayne Laroche]: or

[James Duffy]: qualifier on that decision for you all that there was one increase that was made through the BAA, which you can all choose to carry forward or not into FY '27. Then the request from the sheriffs routed through judiciary was was for an increase of $75 per hour, which would be the $1,900,000,000. So presumably yeah.

[Martha Feltus]: Okay. Thank you.

[Robin Scheu]: The DCRD.

[James Duffy]: This is the Vermont Council on Rural Development. This was an ask for additional funding for their municipal technical assistance program.

[Robin Scheu]: Does anybody want to speak to that? Somebody signed up for that one about a little bit more what it's about so we all know?

[Tiffany Bluemle]: It's a program that, well, it's out at BCRD, but it was some legislation we had, I think a year ago, to provide more technical assistance to municipalities about how to thread their way through grant funding and how to thread their way through some of this planning funding that's out there available, and they've been working particularly with small communities that don't have a municipal administrator or anybody, a three person select board, and they don't know how to navigate through all of these kinds of things. So they've done some work and they do have a schedule of things that they would like to do, and they get presented in the borough caucus about how they're able to support small communities that need assistance. And so how

[Robin Scheu]: is this different than the regional planning commissions doing the same kind of work?

[Tiffany Bluemle]: It's similar, however, it's more in a, because the regional planning commission is a whole region, of course, and it's just a broader group. And I think this particular group tries to work with individual communities more specifically and in areas that the regional panelists

[Trevor Squirrell]: may Okay, not touch

[Robin Scheu]: that's good. Go ahead,

[Martha Feltus]: I was just going say that during COVID there was a program that was started to go and help small communities figure out how to get the COVID money that was going to counties and it's because you get a three man select board and camp clerk and there's no one to really write. So it might be interesting to hear from Doug Farnham how that worked out.

[Robin Scheu]: While you're getting them in here at one, you can, you know, if you remember to ask the question then. Tom, did you want to add Same. Okay. Yeah. Yes, we did have something, and I think we probably used ARPA money or something for that at the time, which isn't to say it's not needed, but I think that's where it started, is at that point in time.

[Thomas Stevens]: And just the only thing I'll reiterate is that this would be a real priority for the rural representatives Just over to make sure that there was equity, accessibility to if they felt shut out, if they were not, if they did not have a way to apply for the grants, the competitive grant. Sure.

[Martha Feltus]: Linda? I believe the Vermont Council on Rural Development has existed for a long time now.

[Robin Scheu]: Oh, they have. Paul Costello used

[Martha Feltus]: to write it up.

[Robin Scheu]: Used to pick the first executive. They do things in the community that's a little different than what Yeah. Well, I was on the council that you put together that ended up with the working lands. They've been around for quite a long time, and they're good conveners. Freedom and unity scholarships, we know we've gotten a request for 2.3 and change, a little bit of an increase that you saw last year. I'm looking at a non general fund source of funds to deal with that. But

[Wayne Laroche]: I

[Robin Scheu]: think we all know what they are. Okay. And the government governor's institute is looking for additional funding.

[James Duffy]: And I think the the $39,000 request would represent a 10% increase above the governor's recommended budget, was the way the request was presented in the governor's institute. The

[Robin Scheu]: commission? Mike and I have heard gotten phone calls at home on the commission.

[Michael Nigro]: I have been talking to the

[Wayne Laroche]: commission about how we could use, I mean, obviously their original request, if it's for $250,000

[Robin Scheu]: Oh, because it was

[Trevor Squirrell]: $250,000

[Michael Nigro]: Well, they have an expansive view of how that could be used, and sure looking at a more focused approach. But I will say that I wasn't alive for the bicentennial, and I doubt I'm gonna be alive for the triumphs.

[Trevor Squirrell]: We got one shot, the D a long shot.

[Wayne Laroche]: You weren't alive. I just didn't.

[David Yacovone]: I was not. Was

[Robin Scheu]: missed it. It's I don't know. Hey.

[Wayne Laroche]: Were we

[Robin Scheu]: all? Now we know how young he is.

[Trevor Squirrell]: Yeah. Yeah.

[Robin Scheu]: He brings the average age of the committee down. Give it to James. It's great. Don't push it. I'll get a bigger head. Yeah, and I got a call from a member of the commission who The numbers have varied, and I think there's still a little bit of carry forward that we found. Maybe the full amount

[Michael Nigro]: still getting the exact amount,

[Wayne Laroche]: but it's a little bit lower than what Shelley said.

[Robin Scheu]: Yeah, okay. So, more to come on that. Are not Why don't we take that line item out, please? That's going be dealt with elsewhere, so let's not confuse the issue. Okay, so we have working lands, CHCB disabilities housing.

[Wayne Laroche]: The original was 3.

[David Yacovone]: Pardon me? The original ask was 3. For?

[Wayne Laroche]: For the developmental psych

[Robin Scheu]: Oh, there was a 3,000,000? Okay. Go ahead Dave.

[David Yacovone]: When VHCb was here, Gus? Yeah. He indicated he had 3,000,000 set aside for the disability housing.

[Trevor Squirrell]: Okay. FYI, I don't know if that's correct.

[David Yacovone]: Okay. You

[Robin Scheu]: wanna check

[Tiffany Bluemle]: on that? Sure.

[Robin Scheu]: Tip has got a long list because all of us have questions about our tips. So we'll find out about that.

[Martha Feltus]: I just want to say that last year's budget we did put in language that directed the HCB to do something, to finish the third pilot. And then they directed

[Tiffany Bluemle]: to do something and move with the group. Right.

[Robin Scheu]: So it might already be covered because it may be set aside or not, that's what we'll find out. I Thank you,

[James Duffy]: have in my notes S-three 28 as a bill that was connected to this request when this was presented during public hearings. S-three 28 was presented as a potential equal for this. I haven't followed that bill closely, but

[Martha Feltus]: just Just to add. To

[James Duffy]: And, yeah, I have that down as a $3,000,000 item in S328.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: And that's where we're sending

[Robin Scheu]: see where that Yesterday, it was referred to the committee on finance, senate finance. So I can check and see what the I'll be seeing the chair at

[Tiffany Bluemle]: lunchtime, and I'll try to ask her what's happening there.

[Robin Scheu]: Okay. So s could you put s 328 in that line item for us, please, just as a reminder? Thank you, James. The regional governance studies in July, I know we've been working on that for a couple of years, and we're like the only state in the nation that doesn't have county governance and other ways that we can be more efficient and save money in our little town so we don't need two fifty one road foremen and snowplows and other ways to combine? I think that's what that study is about. So I think this is the finish of the study.

[Thomas Stevens]: Yeah, I think it's a worthy conversation to have. We've ran issues whenever there's been from my review, there's a classic example of bunnies nationally get sent to counties. And in our Vermont type wisdom hundreds of years ago two fifty years ago.

[Robin Scheu]: Two forty nine.

[Thomas Stevens]: We not to have county government, which is always an argument over whether that's a good thing or not, in the Vermont wisdom kind of way. But I think it's worthy of having a conversation if for no other reason to think of like when we were withheld money for months because we didn't have an automatic place to censor it.

[Robin Scheu]: Right, that happened with the ARPA after COVID, remember that? We were all trying to figure out, they were trying to figure out how to do this because there wasn't county government.

[Thomas Stevens]: And we as a system have been afraid of instituting county government because it's another layer of government. Yeah, it's just it's worthy having the conversation.

[Wayne Laroche]: More than that, of course, you know, like Franklin County, we figured that St. August did everything.

[Robin Scheu]: Well, it's also police safety,

[Martha Feltus]: you know, maybe more regionalization. That's right,

[Robin Scheu]: sharing of services like infrastructure.

[Martha Feltus]: There's all kinds of things that we can share that would be more practical in trying to do it right.

[Robin Scheu]: We'd Save money and be more efficient and maybe help people better.

[Wayne Laroche]: Probably correct, my whole bunch of people in their field, what I articulated was

[Robin Scheu]: I know, but this is paying for study. Reach Up Mental Health

[Tiffany Bluemle]: Contract, that is very similar to the elder care issue in that this was Department of Mental Health. There was money that Reach Up sent to the Department of Mental Health. There were contracts with DAs and SSAs to provide mental access, more readily provide access to mental health services to folks who are REACHF eligible, because the DAs and SSAs were already in contact with them. They would have to This is a way of making mental health Making it much easier for folks who are really struggling to get the mental health care that they need immediately, rather than waiting for a whole long assessment through their

[Martha Feltus]: reach

[Tiffany Bluemle]: out work, etcetera. So this was a way to streamline access to mental health services. And my impression from talking with the Department of Mental Health is that they were asked to hit a number, and they just had to make a lot of cuts to a lot of programs. And again, like the elder care, if we pulled back on this, it would affect, I think the number is 400 people that access these mental health services through the DAs and SSAs, yeah.

[David Yacovone]: Was mental health receiving money from DCF reach up to work? Yes. So by cutting it, they're not really saving any money, they go back to DCF reach up. Well cut something that they weren't causing or anything. Am I misconfused?

[Tiffany Bluemle]: Well, but it was taken out of DCF as well.

[David Yacovone]: I see, so they took money, whatever, to the bottom line. Sorry, you.

[Robin Scheu]: Okay, DCF supervised visitation funding. Can somebody speak to that? Is that you again?

[Tiffany Bluemle]: We did. Yeah, but this is something that I need more information about. We've heard about it with Crime Victim Services when they came in to testify. And it was brought up, I think, in testimony from the network, domestic violence. And think it concerns visitation, access to child parent visits throughout the state. And I'm not ready to talk about it yet because, yeah, there's just a little bit of information that I haven't quite gotten from folks. I

[David Yacovone]: do have, just briefly, When familiarity with I was an assistant judge, we ran into significant problems, particularly with divorces of how much time you might get to stay in ten years, I might get, and so the judge would request supervised home visits to observe, to see how the interaction was going, and to make sure everybody was safe. And in our community, there was no one able to do that kind of supervision. And in some cases it is a DCF type situation, you're separated from the family, you might have reintegration, but not until you see how everybody interacts with each other. So it's a real vital cog in the stabilization of families.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: And there may be, it has been proposed by human services that this could be covered through CHIN's money. And that's part of the inquiry that I have. I haven't had enough time to chase that piece down.

[Wayne Laroche]: So this is not visitation in prisons, because that was another

[Robin Scheu]: That was a different I wouldn't have yeah, that's a different program. The various arts councils, etcetera, wanted an additional 10% over the governor's recommend. And there was also a couple of them that needed to have a little bit more money to get this ninety-ten match, the federal government, and it was kind of a all or nothing. So, I maybe focus more on the ninetyten match to make sure everybody gets that, and then we'll see about the rest of it. But those are

[Tiffany Bluemle]: the two parts to that one. Post permanency prevention. That's one of the prevention programs that human services recommended not cutting. Like that from prevent child abuse. Okay.

[Wayne Laroche]: I'll just post permanency.

[David Yacovone]: After your permanent leaves, that is.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: Can you just give me a minute? I'm sorry.

[Martha Feltus]: I'm going

[Robin Scheu]: to have

[Unidentified Committee Member]: to get back my notes.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: But I did track down the community contributions to

[Robin Scheu]: some questions.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: Somebody did. So, it's covered by DH, UVM Medical Center, Vermont State Police and Towns for a total of $7.35 ks. The program is actually costing $7.65 ks, so Howard covers that 30 ks shortfall. So without DMH, it's a 109 ks shortfall.

[James Duffy]: And I also have the House Human Services Committee letter in front of me. Okay. To the post from what they say about the post permanency program. Yeah. I described that as a 20 so in the gov rack, it was proposed for a 25% cut to supports for new adoptions and guardianship. And that HHS proposal is to restore funding in full to 293,866. That would be the gross $123,000 general fund for post COVID.

[Trevor Squirrell]: So the permanency is when the child is permanently adopted by somebody and then they don't

[Wayne Laroche]: want them anymore or whatever. That's post So a child is adopted. The adopted

[Trevor Squirrell]: parents along the

[Wayne Laroche]: line didn't decide they don't want them anymore?

[Robin Scheu]: No. It supports families once they have adopted a child.

[Martha Feltus]: A support system. I think it's also for children.

[Wayne Laroche]: The title could be better. Yes,

[James Duffy]: this would be a description that it addresses the issues that adoptive and guardianship families might face as they transition.

[Robin Scheu]: Some of the names are

[David Yacovone]: Not very intuitive. Well, like slow Go ahead.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: Well, I mean, the Office of Child Youth Family Advocate made a point in its report this year, which I really commend to everybody, because I think it presents some real opportunities for us and some real warnings. We spend, I can't remember the exacts, but under 5% of our money on prevention within the DCF system. And Human Services' point to me was, we can't cut the only prevention money that we are spending in these particular programs. That committee has a lot of confidence in it.

[Wayne Laroche]: I think it's a good thing, but the problem

[Trevor Squirrell]: is, looking at

[Wayne Laroche]: the title, I never would have guessed what it

[Robin Scheu]: have Well, is a

[Martha Feltus]: challenging time.

[Unidentified Committee Member]: I'm not

[James Duffy]: sure I'd if

[Michael Mrowicki]: it's be glad to talk offline about it. It also has to do with the post adoption agreements, where the biological parents have some access even after the termination of birth of birth. We could talk about

[Wayne Laroche]: it a but when I read that, I would never vote for it, not knowing.

[Robin Scheu]: Not knowing what it was, yeah. Language matters. Confusing. All right, I think we have a better understanding of that, so thank you all. The VHFA down payment assistance for $3.50, if we accept the miscellaneous tax bill, it's in that bill. Okay, and then we have the American Heart Association. We funded something last year. I thought we'd funded money for plans. And was it equipment they wanted this year? Do I have this backwards? Who can talk about that?

[James Duffy]: There was a bill, I believe, last session that required schools to adopt cardiac emergency response plans. There are additionally fund grant funding up to $10,000 per school through an organization whose name is to get the equipment needed such as AEDs to implement these plans. But testimony from the American Heart Association indicated some schools have already used that grant funding this year for other purposes and so don't have funding available to receive to get AEDs and other needed equipment to comply with these by the end of the 2026 school year as they're required to do. So this request will be to provide additional funding available to schools so that they can purchase AEDs and such and come into compliance with the plans by the end of the 2026 school year.

[Robin Scheu]: So they used some money and now they want more money?

[Trevor Squirrell]: Stop.

[Martha Feltus]: This was in the Educated Miscellaneous Ed Fund because if you recall, there was this basketball player from Milton who was perhaps on the court and they got him to Boston and he's gone. Point is that some schools already had the requisite equipment and some didn't. You need training. You don't need apparently a lot of training, but there is training fees. I'm not sure how they can use it for

[Robin Scheu]: the things, but that's another story. Well, some was, yeah, why would you pay money to have a plan? I mean, plan all

[Tiffany Bluemle]: the time. So that seems a little

[Martha Feltus]: And they do wellness. They do lots of stuff. So I don't know exactly what the details are, but there was a request for 150.

[James Duffy]: The adjustment from the American Heart Association says grants of the 10,000 are available via the Vermont School Board's Insurance Trust and can be used to purchase AEDs. But some districts have had to use that funding for other safety needs this year. And so

[Robin Scheu]: So they can't get the grant from the school board's association.

[James Duffy]: They're coming I've already used that grant funding for other safety needs. And I'm just going by what was provided in written testimony. But they identify those other needs as security cameras, radios, go bags, similar items.

[Robin Scheu]: Okay. John?

[John Kascenska]: Well, I was just going to mention, this is an important thing, I think, for our schools here, clearly. We don't know is how many have already put those things in place already. So I don't

[Robin Scheu]: know to what degree that amount would Well, sounds like if it's, grants are up to 10,000, you'd have 15 schools that could get something. Which is not a lot stuff. But I don't know how much the, so it doesn't go very far.

[John Kascenska]: Well, that would not, right. I'm

[Robin Scheu]: not sure. But that was what the ask was, think, for $150,000

[Martha Feltus]: 150,000

[Robin Scheu]: Maybe they're doing smaller things.

[John Kascenska]: Yeah, this is for cardiac emergency response. If you're looking at equipment, the AED is about $10,000 It'll cost that much. And there are opportunities to get those things at a reduced cost here. Sometimes locally, you know, our hospital and for the community AEDs, our hospital just bought them for us. So

[Wayne Laroche]: community needs to

[John Kascenska]: buy them the school is a

[Thomas Stevens]: little different story here perhaps.

[John Kascenska]: Yeah. And the training is not, I do lots of that training, it's long for the training to have, but I've done it. So it'd be interesting if we could get some sense of how many schools would meet this. I don't know, maybe it's just too late in the game to happen.

[Wayne Laroche]: Also if they diverted the minus to something that wasn't intended.

[Robin Scheu]: I don't think that was what was said.

[Trevor Squirrell]: I don't think that was used

[Robin Scheu]: for safety. They prioritized a different safety issue over this particular thing. Because a lot of schools do have like first aid kits and other kinds of things already. So it

[John Kascenska]: wouldn't take long to use up that $10,000 perhaps.

[Robin Scheu]: It would.

[John Kascenska]: Anyway, I'm positive towards that, but

[David Yacovone]: just not. And

[James Duffy]: there is addition, yes, the testimony letter from the American Heart Association provides how they arrived at that number. I can walk the committee through it if you'd like what they have in their written testimony, or I can email it to the committee so you all have it for your reference, whichever you prefer.

[Robin Scheu]: Why don't you email it? Sure. Thank you, James. Okay, while you're writing that down, I'll just say we see VHCb. Somebody asked for $40,000,000 but I see we have the request by one person coming in and one was $40,000,000 but this is what the committee has said anywhere from 2.1 to 2.5 if there's money.

[Thomas Stevens]: Just to be clear, I think, yes, there was a $40,000,000 aspect. They are receiving, like, 30 some odd from the PPT,

[Michael Mrowicki]: which

[Wayne Laroche]: is not all Palestinian, of course.

[Thomas Stevens]: It's sixtyforty or 60 fivethirty five to to Palestinian configuration issues and that they did request an extra 12,000,000 that I don't recall it including the 3,000,000 for the D for the IVD but anyway they just

[Robin Scheu]: that's the difference between the 40,000,000 and this so the 40,000,000 wasn't 40,000,000 new because some of it was the governor's recommend.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: 40,000,000. Yeah well yeah

[Thomas Stevens]: I don't know what don't

[Wayne Laroche]: know what the math would be but but yeah

[Thomas Stevens]: I just assumed that big ask was staying with PTT.

[Robin Scheu]: Yeah, yeah. Okay. Primary care inflationary adjustment? No.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: I mean, that was one

[Robin Scheu]: of my priorities. It's okay, mom.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: I'm deeply concerned about primary care. And it is not going to be fundable, as I understand it, to this moment in time through the rural health transformation. And I don't know about any of you, but I've gotten tons of letters from primary care providers who have explained the need. Some of this is related to AHIP, and some of this is related to an inflationary adjustment. Primary care, as we've all heard 100 times, one of the ways, the best ways to reduce health care costs over the long haul. At any rate, I think that's, the house is burning on that one. It's a fair amount of money as is, you know, adding in the AHEC stuff, but it's not going to be fundable through rural transformation as I correctly understood.

[David Yacovone]: I didn't mean to interrupt Tiff, I thought I'm sorry. I put it on mine too, think it was 2,010,000.00, it was general fund matching Medicaid dollars and it was part of a, they did a per member per month payment.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: That's right.

[David Yacovone]: 4.75 through the ACL, that disappeared, so the money stopped. So it's on my request, I don't know where on this page it is, but

[Robin Scheu]: you don't have the money. It may be part of that same one.

[David Yacovone]: But I called it something different, Okay. I'm trying to say.

[Robin Scheu]: All right. We'll look around and see if it's And is there global commitment allowed in this?

[Tiffany Bluemle]: There is global commitment. I don't have

[Robin Scheu]: it right off my head. But there is global commitment. Okay. So we don't know if that think

[Tiffany Bluemle]: I might cheat in the case

[Martha Feltus]: that to

[Tiffany Bluemle]: James. So we don't know

[Robin Scheu]: if the 1,300,000.0 rounding both or just redundant?

[Tiffany Bluemle]: No, think that that's one. I mean, you know, they were significant asks.

[Robin Scheu]: Yes, they were.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: So I picked one, not really knowing which was better because depending on who I talked to, they said a different way.

[Robin Scheu]: Okay. We'll look into it.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: Tiff, guess I'm confused when you say the Rural Health Transformation will not cover it. Are we talking about provider payments for primary care or you have

[Robin Scheu]: to be on that system? We have. Have. Provider There is a limited amount of provider payments eligible in the Rural Health Transformation, Correct. They, which we heard from Jill Maascalson, but they have yet to determine with CMS what it can include and who can be included. I think they think it's maybe a maximum of $29,000,000 I may be remembering the number wrong, but that's the number that sticks in my head. But they haven't figured that part out yet.

[Martha Feltus]: But weren't there a couple of

[Tiffany Bluemle]: projects for new primary care clinics and new provision of services in rural areas as part of the rural health transformation. Well, I mean, it's changing every day, right? So, I don't have the latest and greatest, but In the corner,

[Michael Mrowicki]: they could answer that too.

[Robin Scheu]: Do we have anybody over here? Yes, introduce yourself and tell us what you know.

[Jill Sudhoff-Guerin]: So Jill Setbaugh Garrett representing the Vermont Medical Society, and as I understand it, with the Rural Health Transformation Program, you cannot use it to backfill any current budget items. So that's one thing. You cannot use it for loan repayment. That's another thing. In terms of the Blueprint programs, those have not been finalized by the CMS and they need to be different programs, right? Right, exactly. Cannot be used for any infrastructure, no clinics, nothing like that. So what Tiff was talking about was an inflationary adjustment to get us to where we are with inflation. Now you're doing that here with the DAAs and other consistent with good friends since around, you know, out of

[David Yacovone]: these communities. And there is

[Jill Sudhoff-Guerin]: a fact that it's presented to you by the Diva as a savings in the budget. It's $2,000,000 safe. It's $5,000,000 total, so it brings this down so it's really an impactful gain.

[Trevor Squirrell]: So I hope

[Tiffany Bluemle]: to be. Very much. Great. Thank you.

[Robin Scheu]: Yes, we definitely fear on

[Trevor Squirrell]: some of those for some of the recipes.

[Robin Scheu]: So we'll also know of that, so you can chat

[Tiffany Bluemle]: with maybe. Nola, the different masks. Since you're here.

[Trevor Squirrell]: I don't know what we need.

[Robin Scheu]: That's all right. I'm sure there's a lot we're all going be running this week. Primary care inflationary adjustment of 1.299. Is that the one that has any global commitment? If this is an inflationary adjustment, is there global commitment?

[Thomas Stevens]: Where is

[Wayne Laroche]: that at?

[Robin Scheu]: It's up above page four, two up there.

[James Duffy]: Just to provide some additional detail, I believe this was a request submitted. One of the ways it came to the attention of the committee was a submission through give me a moment, there was an organization named that was attached to this request.

[Wayne Laroche]: Probably the Global Succession.

[Robin Scheu]: But Jill just mentioned something about 2,000,000 would bring down 5,000,000 in global commitment. I don't know what that

[Tiffany Bluemle]: is either. In this one, at least in my notes, there's a $1,800,000 global commitment to match that 1,300,000.0 on that piece. And I'm arguing for this thing, the PMPM payment increase versus this, picked one that I'd heard more about and knowing that we would be talking about all this.

[Trevor Squirrell]: We're not talking about the, you know, we're not talking about the anti inflammatory, primary, and foot bearing adjustment. Yeah. Yeah. If it's, I have to get back to you, but this is something that seemed like it would be difficult.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: Yeah, I have something from somebody in this pile here that will tell me where that number came from, but I have 1.8 as global commitment for that. But we'll, you and I can know and Dave can talk about that more.

[David Yacovone]: The alternative payment model, Nolan? I

[Robin Scheu]: remember seeing something about the alternative

[David Yacovone]: 2,000,000 it drives down

[Robin Scheu]: 5,000,000.

[David Yacovone]: Right, curves down 5,000,000.

[James Duffy]: Okay,

[Robin Scheu]: We'll keep looking while you're looking. We'll keep going So down the we had vouchers. Was this in something?

[Tiffany Bluemle]: It was in the proposal we got from the DDHI community.

[Robin Scheu]: Oh, okay, that's right. And this was rental housing vouchers? Yeah, this is

[Tiffany Bluemle]: to support folks when there's housing available, just as we do for folks who are homeless or folks who have any other particular need, there is a need for this kind of assistance for some of the folks in the developmentally disabled community. Would this be one time or base? No, well, this would end up being base.

[Robin Scheu]: To be if it's housing, right? Yeah. Not like emergency. Okay.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: Recovery centers may come from opioid funds instead. I can't I read the think there was 7 or 800,000. We had, think, 800,000 at one time. There's some money in the PDH base for this, and then we had money in one time last year. That has gone away. The Human Services did not put it in their opioid settlement request, but there is a need to support the centers, and especially as they're expanding. I think it's recovery residences that are large that are likely to be funded through rural health transformation, not the centers. That's right. Yeah. And so

[Robin Scheu]: this This is the one where over This is the BAA. We had to give more money because the DMH or whoever had not funded them in the way that had been requested. Yeah. Exactly.

[David Yacovone]: So, okay. Yeah.

[Robin Scheu]: Vcap three programs.

[James Duffy]: Yeah, so this was a request that the Community Action Programs submitted as an integrated request for three programs combined that they see as complementary to each other. So they bundled the three program requests together. These are assistance programs, financial coaching and business development and tax assistance support to individuals. There was one recommendation from a committee member that 500,000 be appropriated just for the micro business component and a separate recommendation for $900,000 across the three programs.

[Robin Scheu]: The VIDA is in the treasurer's department, and we usually just Tax assistance. It's the tax assistance, right, the VIDA thing. But it's funded. It's run through the treasurer's office. And I thought there was 150 House Ways and Means had recommended I think it was adding 150 to what was already there. So, definitely a separate

[Tiffany Bluemle]: I think it's funded through first but I think it's actually delivered through the cap that's community action right folks right that's right

[Robin Scheu]: Yeah, so the Office of the State Treasurer's Budget includes $400,000 of base funding for this program, and they recommended increasing it by $150 the appropriation to the treasurer by $150 so there would be $550 available. So that's just to separate that out so we don't just see

[Trevor Squirrell]: a $900,000 refund.

[James Duffy]: Separate those out.

[Robin Scheu]: Trevor, judiciary. And the next two, that and better general, do want There's

[Trevor Squirrell]: a few of them there, yeah. It's interesting, I wouldn't put this as a high priority across criminal justice asks. This particular ask, think involves court judicial assistance, there might be an IT person in there. I think there's a sort of mental health program coordinator or some support, that kind of programming. I think if you look at the House Judiciary's letter to us, that was in their second TRS. That part of it. So I think there are higher needs within

[Wayne Laroche]: criminal

[Trevor Squirrell]: justice, just my opinion.

[Robin Scheu]: And you put them on your list somewhere, didn't you?

[Trevor Squirrell]: I did not put this one on.

[Robin Scheu]: No, but you put your other higher needs.

[Trevor Squirrell]: Well, another section, right? Right. We pop up separately. But on Defender General, I not say public defender, I would say assigned counsel, okay? Because there are two different budget items there. The original request is $2.50, so that's half of that request for contracts.

[Robin Scheu]: For a side case. Yeah.

[Trevor Squirrell]: In reviewing the test Conflict counsels, yeah, conflict.

[James Duffy]: I think that FY '27, the Defender General had sought increases to the third party contracting line for both public defenders and assigned counsel representatives and had only received You're right. You're right. To one. And so they're seeking additional funding and third party contracting for assigned counsel having received it for Right. It's two fifty and two fifty. Yeah. They're two different houses. Okay. And I'll just note on the six FTEs for judiciary. JFO had a couple of just separate clarificatory items that we discussed with judiciary about their budget requests. And so of the six FTEs, I think they had one particular mental health and courts director, which is a contracted position. That's a request for $88,000. Part of that position's responsibilities are supporting the accountability courts. And that is of their six positions in our conversations with judiciary, they highlighted that one as of particular interest to them of the six.

[Robin Scheu]: CBOEO day shelter? No, I see it again.

[Tiffany Bluemle]: Well, I've received a letter from, again, the Burlington Fire Department, the police Department, the Town of Williston, Shelburne, South Burlington, the Fletcher Street Library, Howard Center, and the University of Vermont Medical Center, among others. This is the only day shelter in Chittenden County that serves an average of 131 people per day, where folks can get some food, wound care, referrals, and warmth. Half of them are strictly unsheltered folks, half of around 131. This is one, the Fletcher Free Library wrote, is one of the only other public spaces in Burlington where people can spend time and use restrooms without spending money. The library relies on the community resource center to help carry the daily load. This was cut through DMH, it wasn't really explained, except that they needed to make cuts. And this has been funded through one times over a number, over several years. They really need $650,000 When I was doing my tallies and trying to hit my $5,000,000 in that section, I could only give $4.69. I think that this, I mean, I don't know what Chittenden County would do without this resource.

[David Yacovone]: Thank

[Tiffany Bluemle]: you. We're about to

[Robin Scheu]: hear a bill, and we've got the folks here. How much more do we have down this list at this point, James? We're into the ones now, right?

[James Duffy]: We have a fair number of items left, but these are our items that received one.

[Robin Scheu]: Okay, so I think we're going to stop here. I think we'll probably understand what they are. If you have questions, I'm just checking in on another.

[James Duffy]: Madam Chair, one thing I would note for the committee's attention before I go ahead and share is that all of these items who received one vote, some of them are related. And so committee members might want to, when we distribute this list to committee members, might want to take a look at this lower end. For example, multiple Vermont legal aid requests that were separated but received one vote. So committee members may want to take a look at that or multiple defender general requests. So just flagging that, requests that were separable.

[Robin Scheu]: Okay. So thank you, James. Is this something we can send to Autumn? We're not posting this, but we can we need a copy saved for everybody.

[James Duffy]: Yeah, what? I'll get out

[Robin Scheu]: of the

[James Duffy]: chair, I'll have copies made.

[Trevor Squirrell]: That would

[Martha Feltus]: be great. Okay.

[Robin Scheu]: And then we'll move on to our next event. Thank you very much. This was very helpful. Thank you, those of us who helped. Thanks, Jonas. Okay, we're going to take up the Medicaid