This story, by Report for America corps member Carly Berlin, was produced through a partnership between VTDigger and Vermont Public.
State lawmakers have decided not to give immediate cash aid to prop up a rental assistance program facing federal cuts, opting to consider funding later this year.
Federal Section 8 housing vouchers help thousands of Vermonters cover rent. After a funding reduction last year, the housing authorities that administer the rental aid in Vermont stopped issuing new vouchers and have rescinded them from people in the middle of looking for an apartment.
Housing authorities had been asking state leaders to intervene for months. Yet when lawmakers wrapped up their negotiations on a mid-year spending package last week, they left out $5 million in direct funding for housing authorities and instead set up a process for the agencies to request money from state leaders later this year.
Rep. Robin Scheu, D-Middlebury, chair of the House appropriations panel, told budget negotiators on Friday that setting up that process will indicate that aid is on the way.
“It helps the housing authorities and signals to them that we’re serious, and that they can start to make some plans knowing that this is what’s happening,” Scheu said.
Lawmakers said the postponement would give time to determine how much money is needed. Local housing authorities are currently waiting on the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to set their funding levels for the coming year after Congress passed a spending bill last month.
Kathleen Berk, director of the Vermont State Housing Authority — the largest of Vermont’s nine local housing authorities — said she does not expect federal funds for vouchers to meet the need here.
Though Berk would have liked to see the state offer more immediate assistance — she doesn’t expect housing authorities will be able to access state funds until July, at the earliest — she said the funding commitment by lawmakers will make a difference.
She believes the pledge will allow the state housing authority to make good on funding promises for new affordable housing developments, Berk said, and will let the agency “cease the retirement of vouchers and maybe even reinstate some number of vouchers that have been retired over the past several months.”
Berk expects the new funding process will also prevent the state housing authority from taking away vouchers from people currently using them — an extraordinary step Berk had threatened she might need to take if the state did not take action.
The midyear spending package, H.790, has received final approval from the Senate. It now needs a final sign-off from the House and will then be sent to Gov. Phil Scott’s desk in the coming days.
