MONTPELIER, Vt. (WCAX) – State leaders are scrambling for shelter solutions after hundreds of children and the disabled are among the latest round of the unhoused to lose their state-subsidized hotel vouchers.
Marie Roberts is among hundreds of Vermonters searching for shelter or camping supplies after the latest cap on government-funded hotel rooms went into effect last week, kicking her out of Rutland’s Cortina Inn.
“The owner was great, the workers were great, but the state didn’t give us any guidance. They weren’t willing to. They had nothing to tell us,” Roberts said.
It’s one of the countless stories state lawmakers are hearing following a yearslong effort to wind down the voucher program that was expanded during the pandemic but that has now run dry.
“I had more faith in all of our ability to come together and make this happen,” said Rep. Emilie Kornheiser, D-Brattleboro,
But options and time have run out. This year’s state budget included 80-day caps and 1,100 room limits that have led to hundreds of people with disabilities and families with children turning to tents as the weather gets colder.
It all boiled down to a reckoning at the Statehouse Wednesday during a gathering of the Joint Fiscal Committee.
“Vermonters are in danger. If this were a flood, there would be a press conference every day,” Rep. Diane Lanpher, D-Vergennes, told fellow lawmakers.
Across Vermont, providers say they are tapped out and shelters are full. Now, people with complex health needs and families with kids are turning to camping.
The Scott administration says its hands are tied and that it doesn’t have the authority to bend the rules to let more people into hotels. “The struggle, if we did, is you’re playing god at that point. You’re deciding who gets in at the expense of someone else who can not get in,” DCF Commissioner Chirs Winters told lawmakers.
But advocates and service providers say it’s not good enough and that the state needs to correct course. “We can’t wind down this program at the cost of human lives — which is what’s going to happen,” said Brenda Siegel with End Homelessness Vt, one of over 80 human service organizations calling on Governor Phil Scott to declare a state of emergency, including opening state-run shelters, and a special legislative session to revisit the voucher caps.
Burlington Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, P-Burlington, says it’s a matter of political will. “I see it in Burlington every day. For some folks, they are at a compassion fatigue level. It is imperative that elected leaders don’t give up,” she said.
Rebecca Kelley, a spokeswoman for the governor, said in a statement that DCF has been trying to help people plan for the benefits cliff and says emergency shelters, similar to those set up in March, could be on the table. “The teams at DCF and AHS continue to monitor the shelter needs, and emergency shelters are always a tool we can deploy as circumstances dictate,“ she said.
Senate President Phil Baruth, D-Chittenden County, doesn’t think a state of emergency or special session would address the problem but agrees that state-run shelters — with proper notice — could be an option. “I would ask the governor to consider doing that on a very expedited basis,” he said.
Cold weather rules for the hotel program kick in on December 1 that will allow the most vulnerable to have a hotel room. But even that won’t meet the number of people who are homeless.