MONTPELIER — Gov. Phil Scott has vetoed the Budget Adjustment Act, again.
Scott announced Friday that he’d vetoed H.489, “an act relating to fiscal year 2025 budget adjustments.”
The Budget Adjustment Act is a bill introduced between budgets to square up the state’s finances. It’s controversial this year because it would have extended the winter rules for a hotel voucher program through the end of the fiscal year rather than have them end April 1.
“It’s clear, we’re at an impasse on a non-budget adjustment-related policy, which has once again been included in the latest budget adjustment bill,” Scott stated. “However, nothing prevents us from moving forward with a traditional bill, where we agree on the majority of the mid-year financial true ups. I’m hopeful the Legislature will stop sending me bills they know I will veto and instead send me a clean budget adjustment bill without controversial policy, so we can move forward with the many challenges we face.”
Scott first vetoed the BAA in mid-March, citing the $1.8 million it put into extending winter rules for the General Assistance Emergency Housing program, and the fact he believes it spends too much overall in a time when federal funding is uncertain.
A new version of the bill, passed by the House, and then by the Senate on Thursday following a vote of 17-13, left out a number of things Scott was opposed to, along with the $1.8 million for the GA program, however the winter GA rules would still be extended using existing funds.
Under the GA program’s winter rules, nights spent in a hotel on a voucher don’t count toward a household’s 80-day per year cap. WCAX reported Tuesday that 350 Vermonters were kicked out of the program that day. This followed an executive order from Scott allowing families with children 19 and younger, and medically vulnerable people to remain through June 30.
