Press release: Progressive House Caucus calls to prevent humanitarian crisis

Despite efforts from House Progressives and a group of Democrats, 766 households will be forced out of housing currently provided by the General Assistance Emergency Housing program in just a matter of weeks – on June 1st. One month later, on July 1st, 1,056 additional households will be evicted from the program. This equates to nearly 3,000 of the most vulnerable Vermonters and includes residents with disabilities, parents with children, and survivors fleeing domestic violence. In nearly all instances, no safe housing options are available and our shelters are at capacity. The Governor and his administration’s unwillingness to create a just and humane transition from emergency housing is creating a significant crisis for our communities. And to date, legislative leaders’ lack political will to provide a more humane off-ramp for those experiencing homelessness.  

Although the General Assembly dedicated $60 million to expanding emergency shelters, converting motels into housing, and building affordable housing, these units will likely not become available for at least another 2 years. In the meantime, more than 1,800 households will be evicted within the next 6 weeks.

This is not for a lack of trying. With support from some Democratic colleagues, House Progressives proposed many options that would move us forward, including offering amendments to S.100, a major housing bill. At every step, Progressives attempted to align ourselves with needs expressed by service providers and program participants. These proposals included changing zoning requirements for emergency shelter, expanding immediate  access to housing and supportive services, expanding the Adverse Weather Emergency Housing program dates to cover the coldest days of the year, and creating an off-ramp to allow participants an exit from the program as adequate shelter or housing becomes available. A few of those ideas were adopted, but the final legislation does not completely meet our needs.

Last week, the H.494 Committee of Conference dedicated an additional $10 million to be used in flexible funding to address the homelessness crisis about to directly impact our local communities. These funds can be used in creative and expansive ways to support our unhoused, but we know that the lack of shelter options available has already resulted in community organizations resorting to buying tents and other camping equipment for immediate distribution as the most pragmatic approach. This is an unacceptable option for anyone, especially Vermonters with significant mental and general health needs.  We are outraged to see the state settle for this reality.

The General Assembly approved the budget last week and the Committee of Conference was dissolved. What remains is the administration's flexibility for how it might use any available funding in order to institute policies to protect Vermonters most in need. Unfortunately, the Governor and his administration have made it clear that housing our most vulnerable is not a priority. 

Housing Vermonters, especially the most desperate Vermonters, should be an obvious priority for a legislature with a Democratic and Progressive supermajority. However, the disregard offered by legislative leaders is glaring. This disregard will result in so many people forced into inhumane and unstable situations.This lack of compassion and political leadership is unacceptable.

There are still options available to solve the emergency housing crisis. The House Progressive caucus is working with a coalition of House Democrats to create better short-term solutions than those suggested by the administration’s current plan to set up a total of three last-minute temporary state-wide shelters. We are also working with our colleagues to propose a new budget to be approved by the legislature and administration. Our budget proposal would fund a just and humane transition plan to end the General Assistance Emergency Housing Program while simultaneously meeting the needs of those we previously supported. This proposal will include reallocating significant funding currently stalled in the capital budget that has been reserved for use until 2026 by the Governor. We will also look to reallocate funding from new programming that is not as urgently needed as emergency housing. We should not make deserving programs compete against each other to receive state funding. We should build state budgets based on the current needs of our communities, which includes looking at raising revenue in responsible ways to meet our needs. However, we must also acknowledge the humanitarian crisis before us and act now to reallocate money within the budget. 

The alternative budget proposal can be considered if enough legislators sustain the expected budget veto. Once the current budget is rejected, the legislature can resubmit the budget using alternative proposals to gain enough support from legislators and, hopefully, the Governor. We are prepared to use the process available to legislators to finalize a budget that meets the emergency needs of Vermonters by July 1st.  

The House Progressive Caucus calls on Vermonters across the state to keep applying pressure on their legislators and Governor to ensure that all Vermonters have access to housing as a human right.

Signed,

Rep. Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, Chittenden-17 (Burlington), House Progressive Caucus Leader 

Rep. Taylor Small, Chittenden- 21 (Winooski), House Progressive Assistant Caucus Leader

Rep. Troy Headrick, Chittenden-15 (Burlington)

Rep. Kate Logan, Chittenden-16 (Burlington)

Rep. Brian Cina, Chittenden-15 (Burlington)