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HHAV Update

In the Courts: Vermont Legal Aid secured a victory last week in its challenge to the lack of due process provided to people in the GA Emergency Housing Program who were kicked out of their hotel/motel. Last Thursday, Judge Samuel Hoar granted a Temporary Restraining Order requiring DCF to immediately stop evicting people from the motels with no adequate notice or due process. A copy of the TRO can be found here. Here is a VT Digger article with more information about the decision. Congratulations to our partners at VLA!

At the Legislature:

GA Winter Weather Protections Update Following the Governor’s veto of the BAA, which would have extended winter weather protections to all statutorily defined “vulnerable” unhoused Vermonters, Governor Scott signed Executive Order 03-25, which waived the 80-night cap for a limited number of GA eligible households. Specifically, the 80-night cap is waived for:

  • families with children under 19; and
  • the most medically vulnerable defined as an individual who:
  • meets the Medicare definition of “homebound,” such as someone who relies on the medically necessary assistance of another person or medical equipment such as a wheelchair for mobility and other essential functions;
  • who requires a lifesaving device that requires access to electricity, such as an oxygen concentrator;
  • is in active cancer treatment or treatment for severe kidney/renal disease, or severe liver or heart conditions;
  • is actively receiving Medicaid-eligible or Medicare-eligible “home-based” nursing services (like VNA visits, or hospice); or
  • is a woman in the third trimester of pregnancy or a woman who will enter the third trimester of pregnancy during the period April 1, 2025 to June 30, 2025.

While it remains unclear precisely how many households the Executive Order will protect, according to the state’s most recent data, there were just 1,012 households in the GA Program on April 28, 2025, down substantially from the 1,415 households in the GA Program on March 31, 2025. We should have more concrete numbers when the April Housing Report (Act 113) is released, which should be any day.

Emergency Housing H.91, which would shift the state’s homelessness response system to a regional model led by the CAPs, has passed the House and is currently being considered by the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. As currently drafted, these changes would include what is currently under HOP/OEO and GA/ESD. In addition, under H.91 the VT Network would lead the statewide shelter and case management work for people impacted by domestic and sexual violence.

Here is HHAV’s testimony to Senate Health and Welfare re: H.91. If you would like to testify on H.91, please contact the Senate Health and Welfare Committee clerk as soon as possible. Her contact is: Kiki Carasi-Schwartz at KCarasi-Schwartz@leg.state.vt.us.

The Senate Health and Welfare Committee will continue to work on H.91 next week, with Committee work scheduled for next Wednesday and Friday.

FY 26 Budget The FY26 budget passed the Senate last week. The bill is now in a conference committee, which includes Senators Perchlik, Westman, and Lyons and Representatives Scheu, Harrison, and Bluemle.

Here is a summary (not inclusive of all related spending) of where the budget is currently:

Base Appropriations:

  • $36.9M – VHCB to fully fund its PTT statutory share
  • $2.15M - DHCD for the Manufactured Home Improvement and Repair Program
  • $1.63M - Land Access Opportunity Board
  • $29.3M - Housing Opportunity Grant Program (HOP)
  • Two new positions in the Human Rights Commission
  • $10M – H.91 Emergency Housing – These funds are currently envisioned as follows:
  • $6.5M - Community Action Agencies and the Network
  • $500K - For contractual and other system transformation assistance
  • $3M - Development of shelter capacity

One Time Appropriations:

  • $30.5M - GA Emergency Housing.
  • 2M - DCF for shelter bed expansion
  • $5M - VHCB housing initiatives
  • $4.3M - VHIP funding and one position
  • $13.5M - VHFA Middle Income Homeownership Development Program & Rental Revolving Loan Fund
  • $1M – VHFA First Time Homebuyer
  • $9.1M - Vermont Bond Bank Infrastructure Sustainability Fund
  • $235K - DAIL for the HomeShare Program
  • $15K - DHCD for the Residential Universal Design Study Committee
  • $4.45 - Blueprint & SASH Programs

Additional Appropriation in Budget:

  • $2.8M – Completion of Act 186 Pilot Project (Developmental Disabilities Housing Initiative)

In addition, the budget includes language outlining the scope of the GA Program in FY26. The GA Program will have the same eligibility, caps, and winter weather protections criteria in FY26 as in FY25. For a complete list, please see Sec. E.321 beginning on p. 198 here. Note – the 80-night limit during non-winter weather protections is per 12-month period, so will not reset on 7/1.