Joint Fiscal Office presents preliminary above‑GovRec requests as Appropriations prepares for town meeting week

The Joint Fiscal Office on Feb. 27 presented the House Appropriations Committee with a preliminary table of general‑fund requests above the governor's recommendation and asked members to review it over town meeting week.

James Duffy (Joint Fiscal Office) said the table aggregates department and agency requests, advocate requests and member requests, and that staff will continue to add bills and committee letters as they arrive. He explained visual cues in the table — grayed cells for duplicates and yellow cells for items with global‑commitment components that require further disentangling — and urged members to send written testimony or questions to JFO for follow‑up.

Duffy flagged two Secretary of State items that members should confirm: a reported $650,000 backfill related to federal funds and an additional $450,000 request for election administration or Vermont Access Network funding. "There are two election administration requests from the Secretary of State totaling $1,100,000," he said and agreed to break those items out and confirm the amounts.

Members asked for more granular presentations that cross‑reference budget areas and committee letters and requested a list of notable ups and downs in agencies' budgets to help prioritize. Duffy agreed to provide additional detail, including a more detailed compendium for members who need it.

The presentation included an early aggregate figure for unduplicated department and agency requests in the table and flagged that the numbers remain preliminary and may change as more testimony and bills are added. The chair reminded members of crossover and budget deadlines in March and asked members to review committee letters and agency materials before reconvening.

JFO said it would supply updated spreadsheets and additional breakdowns during town meeting week and before the committee's voting deadlines.