Important to stay Vermont Strong, no matter what

In the context of the state budget, a few things are clear as this new legislative biennium begins. I have been re-appointed to serve on House Appropriations.

I have been assigned the same “portfolio” within our budget work: The department of libraries, the treasurer’s office, the office of the secretary of state, the department of public safety, the department of forests, parks, and recreation, the criminal justice council, and the executive office.

Added to those budget areas, I now also have the legislature, which includes entities such as the joint fiscal office and the office of the sergeant-at-arms. I have additionally been named clerk of house appropriations.

A further bit of clarity is that, unfortunately, we continue to be plagued by the unknown. In the closing days of 2020, coupled with the overall federal budget for federal fiscal year 2021, Congress passed an economic stimulus package referred to as CARES 2.

The total impact of the relief portion for Vermont could be anywhere from $1.4 to $2.5 billion.

Less than half (about $650 million) will pass through the state, to be appropriated or disbursed with legislative oversight. These amounts, and the breakdown within, have already shifted between Dec. 31-Jan. 11.

As understood at present and provided by our joint fiscal office, here is a sample of the federally targeted and permitted allocation of the $650 million: $200 million for rental assistance; $8 million in vaccines and $36 million in testing, tracing, and mitigation; $127 million for elementary and secondary schools; $34 million for higher education; $9.5 million in substance abuse and mental health and $15.4 million in children and family and congregate meal programs; $82 million for transportation; with smaller allocations, yet to be estimated, including for broadband payment assistance.

To see the preliminary restrictions within these restrictions, please check out the report entitled “2nd federal stimulus package – estimates to Vermont—updated Jan. 11” on the joint fiscal office web site.

There you will also see reference to the CARES 2 dollars not passing through the state. These include direct stimulus checks, paycheck protection funding, small business assistance, unemployment supplements, and, also, funeral benefits for deaths caused by the virus.

This anticipated $650 million is likely to have an even more complicated process of federal guidance, regulation, and disbursement than we faced with our initial CARES allotment, the $1.25 billion which helped Vermont these past several months to maintain a “steady ship,” albeit rocked badly by the pandemic storm.

The initial parameters for CARES 2 are set by the outgoing administration and may be modified by the incoming administration.

There may even be an additional relief bill. The potential shifting of fiscal sands is very real.

Case in point: Last session, we were repeatedly informed by Washington that all the $1.25 billion CARES dollars needed to be used by Dec. 30, 2020.

If not, we had to return the unused dollars. We worked all session with that “guidance” forcing us to structure appropriations and allocations accordingly… only to see Congress, in the last week of 2020, extend the deadline to Dec. 31, 2021.

We have to craft the fiscal year 2021 budget adjustment bill now, and beginning no later than Jan. 26 we must begin work on the fiscal year 2022 state budget.

Both must be responsible, balanced budgets which meet Vermonters’ needs, across all 14 counties, and leaving no one behind.

But our work must be done without secure knowledge regarding amounts of federal support available or the rules which ultimately will accompany that money.

Our work must also be done within the context of the virus. The virus is still very much with us, still wreaking human and economic harm, still exacerbating inequalities among us, still unpredictable in its behavior. We have been “Vermont Strong” for more than ten months at this point.

Wearing our masks, maintaining our distances while reaching out to support one another, closing our eyes and our hearts and minds to no one — that’s how we will ultimately beat the virus.

That is our collective responsibility to one another, and to ourselves.

Should you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact me by email at mtownsend@leg.state.vt.us or at mftownsend@comcast.net, by phone at 862-7404, at my home at 232 Patchen Road or on the street (from a safe physical distance in either case). We will see each other again on Saturday mornings at Duke’s once normalcy is restored.

Stay safe, please. Be well. Mark your calendars — there is another Zoom legislative forum coming up Jan. 25.