[co-author: Jessica Griswold]
Senate passes budget
On Friday, the Senate gave final approval to the $7.17 billion FY 2022 budget, H.439. Senate Appropriations Chair Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, called it “as complicated a budget as I’ve ever had to put together in my time in the Senate” due to the flood of federal aid to Vermont for coronavirus relief and an unexpected $211 million revenue surplus.
The bill spends $478.5 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funds, while incorporating only a portion of Gov. Scott’s ARPA spending proposal. Kitchel said the governor’s plan did not focus enough on the legislature’s funding priorities, including service delivery structure, court re-opening and higher education needs. Scott had asked the legislature to place all of the ARPA expenditures in a separate bill. Kitchel rejected that request, instead placing all ARPA spending in one designated section of the budget bill.