Appropriations committee approves amendment allocating about $23.4 million in cash funds to capital projects

The Appropriations Committee approved an amendment on Friday that identifies how roughly $23.4 million in cash‑fund resources will be spent across state capital projects.

John Gray of the Office of Legislative Council outlined the amendment as a typical cash‑allocation schedule for the capital bill, saying, “In the capital bill, you can see we have 23,000,000 that includes, monies currently in the fund plus interest and then reallocations.” Representative Alice Emmons, the committee chair and sponsor of the amendment, said the package combines new cash and reallocated funds to target specific projects.

The amendment does not add net new cash to the budget, members said; it shifts and identifies where existing cash‑fund dollars will be appropriated. Emmons summarized the totals: “So there's a total of 23,400,000 and change that's going towards these projects.” Committee discussion described roughly $17,000,000 in newly available cash derived from unspent or reallocated accounts, with the remainder drawn from prior appropriations and interest.

The amendment lists a range of recipients and projects. Emmons described major maintenance and security upgrades across state buildings, roof and sewer work in Rutland, air‑conditioning and mechanical upgrades at Department of Corrections (DOC) facilities, and a continuing schedule for Southern State and Newport correctional facility projects (with Newport not expected to finish until 2027 or later). She said the committee added $1.25 million to a fund set aside for a future women's facility and proposed spending to continue negotiations for a developer‑built replacement for Woodside, noting that roughly $330,000–$350,000 had already been spent on pre‑development work and that the amendment would backfill approximately $700,000 to continue those negotiations.

The amendment also includes planning funds for an urban search‑and‑rescue facility and a federal‑match package for drinking‑water work administered through the Department of Environmental Conservation; Emmons said the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund match is a 5:1 federal match and that the Waterbury Dam project has seen cost overruns. The judiciary received a cash contribution (about $500,000) for sprinkler and water‑system work at the Essex County Courthouse in Guildhall. Emmons said the committee intends to begin limited Wi‑Fi connectivity work in DOC administrative areas and clarified that the $3,000,000 in the amendment is an initial allocation and not a full project estimate.

Committee members asked procedural and scope questions during the briefing. John Gray confirmed the amendment will appear in both the appropriations and capital bills so the public can find state construction projects in the capital bill even though appropriations allocate the cash. Members also pressed for transmission of the amendment to legislative leadership; committee staff and members indicated they would send it to the speaker's office for floor scheduling.

A motion to accept Representative Emmons' amendment was called and decided by roll call. The clerk announced the recorded result as 10–0 in favor; the transcript also contains an interim reference to a 10–0‑1 tally during the roll call sequence. The committee did not report additional amendments to the floor at that time.

The committee said the capital bill containing these allocations was expected to be taken up on the floor later that morning, and members scheduled follow‑up meetings and informal site visits to review project sites and details.

Next steps: the amendment will be included in the committee's capital bill and sent to the floor; committee staff indicated they will provide additional report‑backs on multi‑year projects and the planned Wi‑Fi effort in correctional facilities.