House passes Budget Adjustment Act

by Anne Galloway vtdigger.org The Vermont House passed the Budget Adjustment Act on Friday. The vote, which was largely split along partisan lines, was 110 to 33. Most of the Republican caucus voted against the $12.6 million mid-year increase in spending for fiscal year 2014.
The Budget Adjustment Act, H.655, includes increased spending on winter road maintenance, methadone treatment, an increase in prison costs and a spike in emergency housing expenditures.
The House also put $9.5 million in a rainy day fund.
In a statement House Speaker Shap Smith said the bill ‘makes important adjustments to the 2013 budget with the health and wellbeing of Vermonters in mind.’
‘In the wake of Entergy’s decision to close Vermont Yankee, it invests $500,000 for economic development in Windham County,’ Smith said. ‘For Vermonters working to recover from opiate addiction, it invests in methadone treatment and adds to existing funds for Vermont’s eleven Recovery Centers. In the wake of a harsh winter, it invests additional monies in winter and spring road maintenance, and sets spendable reserves at $9.5 M to help with future shortfalls.’