House advances corrections bills but rejects five-year moratorium proposed by Burlington member

The Vermont House took up two linked corrections items today, adopting H.876 after amendments and rejecting a floor amendment to H.882 that would have placed a five‑year moratorium on building or expanding correctional facilities.

Member from Burlington offered a divided amendment to H.876 that asked the Joint Legislative Justice Oversight Committee to review the feasibility of an earned‑allowance program and to study community‑based mental‑health and substance‑use services for people who are detained or reentering the community. The Member said the amendment was intended to add testimony from people with lived experience and to surface options to support continuity of care in and out of correctional settings. The Member noted in floor remarks that “we are not providing care at that meets the prevailing standard by any means. In fact, I would argue that it’s almost torture what’s happening to some people in our facilities.”

The Corrections and Institutions Committee reported the first instance of the amendment unfavorable (committee vote reported as "80 3" in committee record). The House declined the first instance on the floor. The member’s second instance—adding language asking the Department of Corrections to include consideration of “alternatives to incarceration” in a required report—was reported favorable by committee and the House adopted that instance. H.876 was then read for third time and passed.

Later in the session the same Member from Burlington offered an amendment to H.882 (the capital construction and state bonding budget adjustment) that would have: imposed a five‑year moratorium on new correctional facilities and expansions; redirected previously designated capital funds for upgrades and trauma‑informed improvements at existing facilities; repealed planning language related to a proposed women's correctional facility; and substituted a statewide study of state properties for potential transitional housing, recovery, and therapeutic residential sites. “It places a 5 year moratorium on new correctional facilities and on expansion of existing correctional facilities,” the member said in presenting the amendment.

Committees that reviewed the amendment — Corrections and Institutions and Appropriations — reported the moratorium amendment unfavorable. Committee members cited practical constraints, the scope of design and siting work, and the view that building projects can embody policy choices that are best advanced through established design and procurement processes. The House declined the Burlington member’s amendment and subsequently approved H.882 by voice vote.

Both measures now proceed as enacted by the House; where the bills go next depends on any remaining enrollment or concurrence steps with the Senate.

Actions recorded on the floor included the House declining the first instance of H.876's amendment, adopting the second instance of H.876's amendment, passing H.876 on third reading, declining the H.882 moratorium amendment, and passing H.882 on third reading.