Senate adopts H.883 committee of conference report, 24–2, sending budget to House and governor

The State Senate voted to accept and adopt the committee of conference report on H.883, the 2025 appropriations act, by a roll-call vote announced as 24 yeas and 2 nays. The action sends the budget forward: the Senate also approved suspending rules to message the House and directed the secretary to transmit the Senate’s actions forthwith.

Senator from Caledonia, presenting the conference report, said the package reduces anticipated spending compared with earlier expectations after a streaming-tax measure failed to move forward and described both base and one‑time appropriations changes. Key provisions outlined by the presenter included $1,200,000 from the opioid settlement to support recovery residences, a one‑time $25,000,000 allocation intended to buy down property-tax increases (presenter estimated this equates to roughly 2¢), $10,000,000 on contingency for emergency housing, and $8,000,000 in one‑time money for a childcare reserve. The report also adds a 3% increase for certain community-based mental‑health and service providers, and funding to address court backlog and pretrial supervision needs.

Opposition came from the Senator from Chittenden Central, who framed the budget as a moral choice and announced a no vote, criticizing a 6.4% pay increase for certain exempt employees and saying trimming those raises could free about $8.8 million for priorities like food security and shelter. “I will be voting no,” the senator said.

After the roll call, the clerk announced the tally: 24 yays, 2 nays; the Senate accepted and adopted the committee of conference report on H.883. Senators then moved and carried a procedural suspension of rules so the action on H.883 could be messaged to the House immediately.

What this means: the conference report reconciles prior differences between chambers and advances the budget toward final delivery to the governor. Specific line‑item amounts and program guidance described in the conference report will become effective as the bill proceeds; where the conference report references external constraints (for example, one‑time funds adjusted to reflect transportation negotiations), implementation will follow statutory and administrative processes. The transcript lists the roll‑call responses in full; the two recorded nays were Senator Piroski and Senator Renner.

Next steps: the Senate directed the secretary to inform the House and ordered delivery of bills passed by both chambers to the governor under joint rule.