Governor’s budget would tap Higher Education Endowment Trust Fund for $15 million UVM project, committee told

A legislative committee heard detailed briefings from the treasurer’s office on Jan. 30 about a governor’s budget proposal that would direct $15,000,000 from the Higher Education Endowment Trust Fund toward a University of Vermont sports complex.

Deputy Treasurer David Chair, representing the treasurer’s office, confirmed the governor’s proposal as described to the committee: “They are the governor is proposing in the budget to pay $15,000,000 out of the fund and put it towards [a] sports complex at UVM,” a committee member relayed during the hearing. The deputy treasurer described how any change in the fund’s statutory revenue routing would need to be addressed by the Legislature.

The proposal, committee members said, would also alter the long-standing rule that routes estate-tax receipts to the trust only after actual receipts exceed 125% of projected receipts; the budget language cited at the hearing would stop that routing mechanism going forward. “If we wanted to monkey around a little bit, it’s going to require a change in statute, very, very clearly,” the committee chair said during the session, urging members to remember the fund’s statutory mission.

Treasury staff did not present a bill or vote at the Jan. 30 meeting. Instead, the session served as a technical briefing on the fund’s history, revenue streams and distribution mechanics, and committee members asked how the proposed change would affect long-term sustainability.

Deputy Treasurer David Chair emphasized that the fund’s income is uneven and that most growth comes from occasional estate-tax receipts; ancillary income — transfers from unclaimed property accounts older than 10 years and under $100 — has been small by comparison. He cautioned that altering the revenue stream could reduce the fund’s ability to support its beneficiaries unless offset by other revenue or a change in investment outcomes.

The committee did not take formal action on the governor’s proposal at the hearing. Treasury staff offered to bring an investment specialist to a future meeting to provide deeper analysis on the fund’s asset allocation and return assumptions. The committee adjourned with plans to continue the discussion at its next scheduled meeting Tuesday.