Rep. Emily Long seeks to restore Act 173 inflator to special-education census grant
January 30, 2026 | Education, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Committees, Legislative , Vermont
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Representative Emily Long (Newfane, Windham) introduced House bill H.802 on Jan. 30, asking the Education committee to restore an inflation adjustment to the special-education census grant established under Act 173 (2018).
Long said a business manager had recently discovered the inflator the committee had expected to continue had ended and that H.802 would "put the inflator back in." She said the text would reinstate the earlier methodology that indexed the uniform base amount used to calculate the census grant to the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) from the current year onward.
Legislative counsel walked members through the census block grant statutory language and noted that striking transition language cleans the statute up but also made the discontinuation of the inflator visible: fiscal-year 2027 is the first year out of transition, which appears to be why the inflator is no longer applied automatically. Counsel said the bill would add the inflator for the census block grant going forward.
Committee members asked for a ballpark dollar estimate and the rate the inflator would produce. Staff said they could not provide a quick figure and recommended following up with budget staff; members specifically mentioned contacting Jana Fleming and Julia Brook for fiscal numbers. The sponsor and counsel asked staff to add the inflator language to the committee’s miscellaneous appropriation bill so it could be considered with budget figures.
The committee did not take a vote on H.802. Staff indicated next steps: confirm whether the inflator was intended to be permanent, provide a fiscal estimate for the inflation adjustment, and draft the inflator language into the miscellaneous bill for review.
Next steps: staff to contact budget staff for dollar estimates and to add inflator language to the miscellaneous appropriation bill for further consideration.
Long said a business manager had recently discovered the inflator the committee had expected to continue had ended and that H.802 would "put the inflator back in." She said the text would reinstate the earlier methodology that indexed the uniform base amount used to calculate the census grant to the National Income and Product Accounts (NIPA) from the current year onward.
Legislative counsel walked members through the census block grant statutory language and noted that striking transition language cleans the statute up but also made the discontinuation of the inflator visible: fiscal-year 2027 is the first year out of transition, which appears to be why the inflator is no longer applied automatically. Counsel said the bill would add the inflator for the census block grant going forward.
Committee members asked for a ballpark dollar estimate and the rate the inflator would produce. Staff said they could not provide a quick figure and recommended following up with budget staff; members specifically mentioned contacting Jana Fleming and Julia Brook for fiscal numbers. The sponsor and counsel asked staff to add the inflator language to the committee’s miscellaneous appropriation bill so it could be considered with budget figures.
The committee did not take a vote on H.802. Staff indicated next steps: confirm whether the inflator was intended to be permanent, provide a fiscal estimate for the inflation adjustment, and draft the inflator language into the miscellaneous bill for review.
Next steps: staff to contact budget staff for dollar estimates and to add inflator language to the miscellaneous appropriation bill for further consideration.
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