Appropriations committee approves amendment reallocating $45,000 for syringe services

The House Appropriations Committee on Thursday approved a committee amendment to reallocate $45,000 within an existing budget adjustment for HIV syringe services so the funds are distributed among three providers rather than being assigned solely to Vermont CARES.

The committee voted to strike out section 77 of H.790 and insert a revised section 77 as described by fiscal staff. Fiscal staff read the amendment on the committee floor and said the change reduces Vermont CARES’ allocation from $185,000 to $165,000 and assigns additional amounts to the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont and the HIV HCV Resource Center.

"We appropriated $45,000 in additional money for HIV syringe services and it was all allocated to Vermont CARES. It should have been allocated across 3 different organizations that provide their services," the chair (Speaker 1) said, describing the amendment as a correction rather than a new appropriation. Fiscal staff (Speaker 2) described the amendment as "a motion from the House Committee on Appropriations to strike out section 77 of H.790 in its entirety and insert in lieu thereof a new section 77."

Committee members were told the amendment does not add new money to the BAA but reassigns existing funds. The clerk called the roll; the transcript records affirmative responses from eleven members (Representative Winley, Representative Dickinson, Representative Biltis, Representative Kosenka, Representative Roche, Representative O'Keefe, Representative Nigro, Dennis Quarrel, Missus Stevens, Nanakaponi and Lenashaw). The clerk recorded the tally as "110." The motion to approve the committee amendment was recorded as approved.

The fiscal presentation, as read into the record, included a figure of $5,015,000 being allocated to the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont and $5,000 to the HIV HCV Resource Center. Those figures appear inconsistent with the described $45,000 redistribution and were read from the amendment language; committee materials or fiscal staff should be consulted for the definitive numbers. Committee members emphasized that the change reflects a redistribution within the existing appropriation rather than an increase in total funding.

The committee adjourned and said it will reconvene the following day after floor action to finalize the budget adjustment vote.