Senate passes H.839 after rejecting amendment to shift emergency-communications spending oversight

The Senate on third reading passed H.839, a fiscal year 2024 budget adjustment bill, after rejecting an amendment that would have expanded the Public Safety Communications Task Force and given it authority to review some Department of Public Safety expenditures tied to regional dispatch plans.

The senator from Chittenden North offered the amendment to refocus emergency communications planning, proposing to expand the Task Force from seven to 11 members, require election of a chair to avoid conflicts of interest, require the program manager not be in direct competition with subject-matter experts, push key deadlines out by nine months, and give the Task Force a role in reviewing whether Department of Public Safety spending aligned with regional dispatch plans. "Vermonters are at risk and time is not on our side," the senator said, arguing the Task Force had made little progress: "About 7 months, 9 RFPs, and more than 30 meetings later, the Public Safety Communications Task Force still has no plans, no subject matter experts hired, and no legal counsel hired."

Members of the Appropriations Committee and the chair of the Senate Government Operations Committee opposed shifting spending authority to the Task Force. A presenter for Appropriations said "the provision that would delegate authority over expenditure of funds to a task force is not a policy that we support," stressing that the package involves two separate funding sources — an $11,000,000 general-fund appropriation and a $9,000,000 federal COPS grant awarded to the Department of Public Safety — and expressing concern about changing who controls the federal grant. The Government Operations chair said the existing co-chair structure, led by the Department of Public Safety commissioner and the 911 chair, was intentional and warned it would be "inappropriate to meddle" with federal grant oversight in the amendment language.

Senators requested a roll-call vote on the Chittenden North amendment. The amendment failed on the roll call (Yes: 1; No: 28).

Separately, the Senate approved committee-sourced amendments offered by the presenter from Caledonia to clarify and extend emergency housing and Reach Up pilot provisions. The changes suspend certain time limits for vulnerable temporary housing households through June 30 and continue emergency housing benefits through the end of the fiscal year for those households. The amendment also treats the Reach Up pilot's $1,000 incentive payments as reimbursements for work expenses so those payments are not counted as income when calculating food benefits; the chamber approved that amendment by voice vote.

During final debate, supporters said the budget adjustments aim to direct funds to flood-affected communities and preserve general-assistance housing benefits. Senators also discussed a childcare provision (section 74) that removes a statutory definition of a family child care home to allow details such as staffing ratios and hours to be set through the rulemaking (APA/LCAR) process.

The clerk called a roll for final passage of H.839; the presiding officer announced the bill passed (Yea: 25; Nay: 3). The Senate then adopted a standing adjournment until Tuesday, Feb. 13 at 9:30 a.m.

Authorities cited in debate included provisions and cross-references to statutory thresholds for information-technology project review and an Administrative Bulletin referenced by the amendment's sponsor. The Senate also read JRS 44, a joint resolution declaring rising drug overdose deaths a public-health emergency, and referred it to the Committee on Health and Welfare earlier in the session.

What happens next: H.839, as passed by the Senate on third reading, will advance to the next steps required by Vermont's legislative process; members indicated certain municipal aid allocation details will be worked out in a House–Senate conference committee where FEMA allocations per town will be finalized.