 hearing from with the House and Senate Appropriations Committees and we're taking testimony on the governor's recommended budget for 2023. We have a timer on the screen two minutes we recognize that's really short but we have 50 people who wish to testify today and the one thing that you can do is if you don't have sufficient time or you want to add more you can always submit your comments in writing and we will be sure to consider them. So at this point I'm going to introduce members of the two committees and I'll start with the Senate and I'm Jane Kitchell and I chair the Senate Appropriations Committee and I'll turn it over to Senator Nitka. I'm Alice Nitka from Ludlow. I am a senator for all of Windsor County and the towns of Mount Holly and London Derry out of Windsor County. Senator Westman? I'm Rich Westman. I am the senator from the Moio form. Senator Starr. Thank you Bobby Starr, Senator from Massick-Torling County. Senator Baruth? I'm Phil Baruth. I represent Chittenden County and I'm the clerk of the committee. And Senator Sears? He was on but perhaps he's had to leave momentarily. I'm going to turn it over to Representative Fagan for introductions of the House members. Thank you Senator Kitchell. So I'm Representative Peter Fagan. I'm Vice Chair of House Appropriations, my chair. Representative Hooper is unavailable today. Family commitments and I'm going to go around the room. Good afternoon, Megatownsons from Swirlington. Tristan Tolino from Brattleboro. Party Feltas from Linden Sutton and Burke. Jim Harrison representing Chittenden-Mendon, Killington and Bridgewater. Hello, I'm Robin Shye from Middlebury. Swirl, Underhill and Jericho. Representative Bob Helm from Fairhaven, Gasselton, Hubbardton and West Haven. Kimberly Jessup representing Middlesons and East Montpelier. And Dave? Good afternoon. I'm Representative Dave Yacovoni. I represent Morristown, Elmore, Worcester and Woodbury. Welcome all. Senator Kitchell, take it away please. Thank you. We're going to start with our first witness and that is Peter Jacobson followed by Betsy Rosenbluth. So please get yourself ready and then we'll keep going down through the list of witnesses. So Mr. Jacobson. He's on his way in. Senator Sears was with us, Jim. He didn't, I know, but he didn't answer when I. He hopped on, but I don't know where he is. Well, I can make an announcement. We expect to be joined by Senator Sears who represents Bennington District. Peter Jacobson is ready. All right. So Mr. Jacobson, do you want to start your testimony, please? And the timer? Thank you very much. Thank you for having me, everyone. My name is Peter Jacobson. I'm the Executive Director of Vermont Cares and I'm here today to testify on behalf of our work as well as that of the AIDS Project of Southern Vermont, the HIV HCB Resource Center and the Twin States Network. Funding for HIV services and prevention hasn't increased in many years. Due to the pandemic and other acute needs, we need to request additional funds this year and beyond to adequately serve those who work alongside. We're also enthusiastically supporting funding requests that will be coming away from the Comprehensive Care Clinic of UVMMC as well as safe recovery of the Howard Center. We've included suggested budget language with our written testimony to support this joint HIV funding request for care as well as prevention and harm reduction. For HIV care this year, we're requesting an additional $390,000. Over the last year, our agencies have experienced a significant increase in clients living with HIV. And as a result, we have to enhance our case management to focus on client care, housing and medication adherence. The AIDS Project of Southern Vermont specifically is asked for support to recruit and retain case management staff and to provide financial assistance to help clients maintain stable housing and access to nutritious food. Clients of the HIV HC Resource Center have been negatively impacted by COVID-19 through loss of jobs and housing cost increases. Requested funding would support financial assistance to help maintain housing utilities as well as increasing salary and benefits. Clients of the Twin States Network have increased experience to an intense sense of isolation due to the pandemic. And funding would increase retreats and support for those clients. For HIV prevention and harm reduction, we're requesting an additional $360,000. Over the last two years, Vermont's Syringe Services Service programs have seen an incredible growth of people. And over the next year, we anticipate seeing another 400 or so. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you. Betsy? Oh, there she is. Followed by Julie Tesla. I think she's having a problem. Well, we could go to Julie and then come back. Here she comes. Good afternoon. Are we ready to go? Sorry. Yes, yes, we are. No, we can hear you. Thank you. Thank you. My name is Betsy Rosenbluth. I'm with Vermont Feed at Children Farms. And I am here to ask you today to please support full funding of the Farm to School and Early Childhood Grants program at $500,000, the governor's budget level funds the program at $171,000, and also to please support the governor's recommendation to fund the local purchasing incentive program for schools at $500,000. Over 100 Vermont farms provide food to our youth across the state through early childhood and school nutrition programs. And every Vermonner should have access to the nourishing food we produce in this state, regardless of zip codes. So while we address food security, we are also helping our Vermont farmers and agriculture economy. So that's the win-win of Farm to School. These grants help schools create structures and partnerships to bring farm fresh food into our schools and offer it to students on a daily basis. But the funding hasn't kept pace with demand, so only 24% of the requested funds in FY 21 could be awarded with 171,000 available statewide. So please, we are asking you to fully fund the Farm to School and Early Childhood Grants program at an appropriation of $500,000 for FY23. Last year, you passed a local purchasing incentive for schools. Schools spend over $15 million purchasing food each year and we want more of those dollars to stay in Vermont with Vermont farmers and producers. And in the first year, over 50% of the school food authorities applied for the incentive and will be receiving about $490,000 for their local food purchasing. So this is the year to help build resiliency in our local food system, ensure our youth are well nourished and expand opportunities for farmers. So thank you. Thank you very much, Betsy. Brian Lois next, followed by Lauren Glenn Davidian. Senator Julie Tesla first. Oh, I'm I'm sorry, Julie then Brian. I'm sorry, Julie. Thank you very much. Julie Tesla, Vermont Care Partners. The dream of parity has been deferred as Vermont's designated specialized service agencies have not been left behind when they've been funding increases for state government and health providers, so that we've not been able to keep up in wages, health benefits, IT rent, all those costs. You know about the impact of the pandemic on people's mental health and substance use disorders, it's been the workforce. Last year, our turnover was the highest ever at 31%. This year, I think will be higher. Our vacancy is at 20%. And in some of our development disability programs, it's at 50%. One DS agency has already closed. Our staff who have me stay with us are really overworked, overstretched, burnt out and but doing their best and proud of it. Unfortunately, the quality of life and quality of care and even the health and safety that people we serve are is at risk. Some of our residential and crisis beds have reduced their hours or have closed. We have 342 children waiting for services sometimes for up to six months. And 437 adults are waiting for services for up to nine months. And you know that leads more people into crisis in our emergency departments waiting for care. They have 88 people waiting for developments, disability services. And on many of our students are really struggling with behavioral, emotional and social needs, making it hard for them to do well in school, but we don't have enough staff to meet their needs. What we need is a 10% rate increase this year, that would be a big help. We probably need catch up in future years after that. And then we need ongoing cost of living increases that do keep up with state government and health providers. We could also use support for scholarships, loan repayment, tuition assistance for staff that would also be very helpful. Thank you for your time today. We appreciate your support year after year. Thank you, Julie. Now, Brian and then Lauren Glenn. So Brian low A of Oh, no, maybe he's on his way. Hello, all. Thank you. My name is Brian low, the new executive director of Vermont Council on for and rock Council on Royal Development. Thank you for the opportunity to speak with you today. And also thank you for your support in both the creation and sustainment of the Working Lands Enterprise Initiative. This has become an enormously productive program that touches farm and forest enterprises in all 14 Vermont counties through 2020. The program has generated more than 500 new jobs and $36 million in new economic activity, meaning that every dollar invested has seen a return in excess of five to one. I also want to thank the governor and his team who've increased the base funding for working lands to $1 million. And given what the program has demonstrated over the past couple years, the Vermont Council on Royal Development and the broader Working Lands Coalition we represent believe there's a significant opportunity for a one time allocation of $15 million to be spent over three years on transformative projects for farm and forest enterprises. Here are the three crucial points I hope to leave you with. First, even with the tremendous action by the legislature to significantly increase the working lands allocation each of the last two years, there's still been significant unmet need. In FY 21, the working lands was awarded an additional $3.5 million to address a total need of about $6.8 million. In FY 22, these committees took action recently to allocate an additional $2 million through the Budget Adjustment Act to a funding allocation that already exceeded $5 million. The current $1 million allocation for fiscal year 23 likely will not meet the viable need for the next fiscal year. Second, this is a proven practical program with a powerful and a powerful economic development tool. More than 250 farm and forest enterprises have been impacted all across the state, creating more jobs, stronger supply chains, creation and production of infrastructure locally in Vermont and help situate Vermont companies to better access new markets and create value added products in state. Lastly, this program has significant long term value to the state. As we come out of a pandemic that has underscored the value of sustainable food systems and supply chain risks, significant investments in our farm and forest enterprises will be money well spent. Thank you very much for your time. Thank you, Brian. I'm Lauren Glenn, and then Victoria's Zolnowski, please. Good afternoon, Senator Kitchell and members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee. I'm Lauren Glenn Davidian. I'm the executive director of CCTV Center for Media and Democracy based in Burlington, one of the 24 community media centers that are part of the Vermont Access Network. We very much appreciate your support for our $300,000 request in the budget adjustment to keep the wheels of democracy turning through the coverage of local meetings across the state, the building of hybrid community setups so that people can participate from all corners of their community and the state, and for the support of ongoing public education programming, as well as open platforms for members of the community to stay connected on our 75 plus community media channels. As you know from previous testimony, the funding, the cable funding for community media is declining with the growth of broadband and internet subscriptions, and the expenses are increasing. In FY23, we are bringing forth a $600,000 request to make up this difference between the revenue decline and the increase in expenses. And this is part of a series of requests that we're making as a bridge funding strategy until we are able to work with the legislature to affect change in telecommunications tax policy and the way that public benefits like public access television, that is community media is funded. I know that I don't need to justify our benefits. I think you are all agreed that what the services we offer are important and an essential service. So we welcome your consideration of our $600,000 request for the FY23 budget. Thank you so much. Thank you. Victoria and then Amanda Haas. We go. Hello. Hello. I did. There we go. I'm sorry. I just had someone walk in the door. So I had to move. First of all, thank you very much for letting me speak today. And thank you for any consideration that you would give to the Vermont State College system. I find it sad and embarrassing that Vermont is ranked in one of the lowest in funding of higher ed. And yet I'm sorry. And yet we rank high in educational attainment, meaning that Vermonters pay out of their own pockets for their education. And I know a lot about this because I graduated from Johnson State College in 1986. And we were desperate for funding then. And I've been part time faculty at Johnson now NVU since 1987. And I think the issue of financial support for the Vermont State College system and employment, I don't think the governor needs to invite other people into the state. I think that money needs to go to the college system. And the cell towers are all tied together. If you live in the Northeast Kingdom, there isn't enough internet to connect to take online courses or take an online job. So fixing the colleges and the cell towers will help with jobs greatly. 82% of our students are Vermonters and two thirds of our alumni remain in the state as Vermonters who pay taxes. Vermonters want affordable higher education. And that will help the state of Vermont keep people employed and paying taxes and benefit all of us. Thank you for your time. Thank you. I'm on Amanda followed by Stephen Pooley I'm I am I free to go? Yes, please, please start. Hi, I'm Amanda Hass from Montpelier and a teacher at the Montpelier Learning Center of Central Vermont Adult Basic Education. We have six learning centers in Washington, Orange and Lamoille counties and are one of the four statewide nonprofit organizations in the adult education and literacy network. I'm here to ask you to support our network's request for an additional appropriation of $1.4 million for fiscal year 2023 to address both historic underfunding and ongoing expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our network serves for months most vulnerable adults and teens who need help with basic skills and obtaining a high school credential in order to access other education and career opportunities. We know that increasing literacy via in reading, writing, math or technology will open up opportunities for students, including better jobs, furthering their education or developing new job skills, having a better family life and being able to do basic tasks for themselves. For example, the immigrants and refugees to this state want to interact with the community and become useful citizens. But often they need help with conversation and citizenship skills, as well as acquiring driver's license. We teach them English and help them acquire the knowledge and confidence needed to have successful integration into our society at no cost to them. Without those barriers for these students, they're able to become an active and central force, not only in their learning, but also in their own lives. Please support the statewide adult education and literacy provider network with an additional appropriation of $1.4 million for fiscal year 2023 to address our historic underfunding and ongoing expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thank you for listening. Thank you. I'm Steven and then Hal Cohen. Okay, can you hear me now? Yes. Yes. Okay, great. Yes. Thank you. My name is Steve Puglia. I'm an executive director of the Vermont Association for the Blind Visually Impaired. It is our mission to help our moderates with a vision problem to stay independent and remain active in their community. One of the things that we would like to teach our clients is all the accessibility features and helpful apps that are on their iPhone, iPads and other Android devices that would significantly improve their quality of life, as well as decrease their sense of loneliness and isolation, which has always been an issue for the visually impaired, but we have no funding for this. However, when COVID hit in 2020, many people, not just the visually impaired, experienced what our clients have always faced and being socially isolated in their home. And we saw the toll it took on their health and mental well-being. For our clients, it was even worse as due to the social distancing, having to stay at home. And the fact that families and friends could not visit them, it just furthered their isolation. Fortunately, the state did step in recognizing the fact and approved a $100,000 grant for fiscal year 21 and 22 with the COVID-19 funds that the state had received to start this program. We utilize those funds to help provide the needed technology training to help reduce their feelings of isolation and to keep them safe. We thank you for this, and Dale has been supportive of the program and the results we have achieved. We trained 150 clients in 2020 and 290 in 2021, and the demand is still strong. Unfortunately, this funding ran out at the end of 2021. The need still exists, however, and will continue to be needed even when COVID is somewhat behind us. With Vermont's aging demographics, we need help to support the service and to make the funding permanent. We are seeking 100,000 in ongoing funding. We have proven that the skills they learned have kept them socially connected, informed, and has improved their quality of life. Thank you for your consideration in this request. Thank you. Hal and then Bob Stanner. Okay, I think I'm in there now. Yes. Yes, you're in. You can start anytime. Thank you. Good afternoon. I'm Hal Cohen. I live in Middlesex. I'm the executive director of Vermont Adult Learning, which serves seven of Vermont's 14 counties, Chittenden, Franklin, Grand Isle, Addison, Rutland, Windsor, and Wyndham. I'm here to ask you to support the statewide adult educational literacy provider network with an additional appropriation of $1.4 million in FY 2023 to address historic underfunding and ongoing expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The adult educational literacy providers serve adults in Vermont who need help with basic literacy skills and reading, writing, and their math and acquiring a high school credential. This opens up opportunities for students, including better jobs and having a better family life. Our students are at the center of our work, and we know that success looks different for every student, which is why our programming activities are specifically tailored to each student's unique needs and goals. Christina, a single mother who earned her high school diploma from us at age 32 is now a registered nurse in Rutland. Michael, a father from southern Vermont, earned his diploma last month and started a new job as a security guard as he prepares to apply to the Vermont Police Academy. Sarah, a successful entrepreneur, earned the diploma when she stepped away from the public high school social group to protect her sobriety. For months, AEL students are often the most vulnerable and underserved of our communities. The majority of our students live in poverty, have a disability, and are experienced homelessness or unemployment. Over 30% of our students identify as a person of color. Almost all of our students lack a high school credential. Our services and education and workforce development changes people's lives. An educated workforce is an employed workforce. A high school credential is essential to earning a livable wage, and our graduates often remain in Vermont, forming the backbone of our local economies and communities. We support the statewide adult education and literacy provider network with an additional appropriation of $1.4 million in FY 2023. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Hal. Bob is standard and then Susan Munt. Can you hear me? Hello? Yes, we can hear you. Great. OK, I'm getting another message from you folks. Well, now we can see you in person before you had a Panama hat and a cigar, Bob, so you can start any time. I apologize for the cigar. Nice to see you folks again. And Madam Chair, thank you for conducting this hearing. For the record, my name is Bob Standard. I'm a former member of the House. I spent four years of my life doing exactly what you're doing today, and I do appreciate the hard work your folks are doing. For the last 18 years, I've been a political columnist, and now I fish. I'm here today to speak in support of local access TV. I hosted a show called Q&A Live from 2005 to 2013 for eight years. I took the show over from a fellow columnist, Don Keeland, who took it over from the show's originator, a high school student from Arlington, Vermont. The show ran for 15 years. Over the eight years I had it, I interviewed Jim Douglas, Governor Jim Douglas, Congressman Peter Waltz, Senator Bernie Sanders, New York Times columnist, Paul Krugman, and martial artist, Ron Van Cleef, who starred in movies with Bruce Lee. But the guests were not important. The people who were important were the kids who helped me produce the show. Towards the end of my eight years of hosting this show, my director was a 10-year-old kid, and his nine-year- old sister helped produce the show. A 10-year-old kid. That kid has now grown up. He's married. He's very successful as is a sister, and I have no doubt that his skills and experiences working on this show has helped him throughout his life. I learned that many people in the area watched this show, and it was picked up by other local access TV stations. The simple fact is that in today's world, local access TV is often times the best TV for many Vermonters. Local access TV is the adhesive that is holding our sense of community together. Please take whatever measure is necessary to keep this important Vermont asset alive. And again, thank you for doing this, and it is nice seeing you. Rich Westman, you look just as young as you did 20 years ago. I don't know how you did it. Thank you, folks. Thank you. I was a guest on that show, by the way. Yeah, and you look as young, too. I wouldn't say that. And then Mark Hughes. Hi, my name is Susan Mund. Thank you for this opportunity. Please support the Vermont Food Bank with an appropriation of $6 million for fiscal year 2023, addressing ongoing food security needs. I'm here today to share some of my personal experiences. Take a walk with me. Take a walk with me today in Northeast Kingdom, the town of Newport. I'm a resident in the Newport area and work with elders and disabled adults. Providing support and delivery of food items shared with us by the Vermont Food Bank. We include items from the monthly Veggie Van Gogh. The level of joy and appreciation when I deliver palatable, healthful, nutritious food is overwhelming by my participants. Sometimes the question, what's for dinner, is not a part of the conversation. Rather, the question, is their dinner becomes a discussion. Without the continued resources supplied by the Vermont Food Bank. And with the escalating grocery costs facing our homes, I believe the question, is their dinner will become more prominent. Newport could, would benefit from additional resources, supplies, and nutrition education provided by the Vermont Food Bank. For neighbors, for families, and for the communities, please support the Vermont Food Bank fiscal year 2023 with an appropriation of six million dollars to support and food insecurities. Thank you so much for this time. Thank you for testifying. Mark Hughes and then Jennifer Fontaine. I'm working on it. There's Mark. Well, there's more buttons than normal on here, the press. Good afternoon, Madam Chair, and thanks for having me. My name is Mark Hughes, and I'm the executive director. Mark, we can't hear you too well. Can you get closer to the microphone? Let me just stop this for a minute and see if I can adjust my volume. Sometimes it just gets a little, OK, that's not working. All right. Why don't you keep going and we'll listen closely. I think I have it. I think I have it. I'm pretty sure I know what the problem is here. How's that? That's great. Thank you. Now, much better. Thank you. I'm sorry about that, Madam Chair. It gets away from me sometimes. It just has a mind of its own. Again, good afternoon. My name is Mark Hughes. I am the executive director of the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance. I am happy to be here with you today. I wanted to share with you just a brief bit about your commitment that the legislative body commits to the sustained and deep work of eradicating systemic racism throughout the state by actively fighting racist practices and participating in the creation of more just and equitable systems. You went on to say more in that commitment that was an R113 year racism as a public health emergency statement. I wanted to also just add to that that this about 354 days ago, we sent you a memo. This is everybody in the legislature. This is the memo that outlined the moral budget, commitment to moral budget. We said we at the Vermont Racial Justice Alliance are proud to advocate for state policies that empower American descendants of slavery and black indigenous and other people of color. And we seek equity through these for these groups and community. We went on to ask you for some commitment to some major initiatives. One was the task force to study proposals for reparations. That was that $200,000, the cultural empowerment program as well as, and this is the H 406 as well as the business on 273, which was somewhere around $20 million. And then I think it went on the health equity bill of $5 million. What I'll spend the last 30 seconds talking about is the Richard Kim Center here in Burlington. We're looking for $400,000 for seed funding there. The Richard Kim Center, personal and professional development, wealth development management, business cultivation and support program and community engagement and support. Phase one is going to cover the costs associated with community engagement, initial stages, up-bidding staffing equipment program and an overhead. So that's considered as a proposal as well. And also consider keeping a commitment that you've made to addressing systemic racism. We'd like to see some money that goes towards this commitment as opposed to just rhetoric. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Jennifer and then Kate Bryan. Good afternoon. My name is Jennifer Fontaine. I'm the Director of Operations at the Upper Valley Haven in Hartford, Vermont. And we are also a Vermont Food Bank network partner. I am here today to ask you to support Vermont Food Bank with an appropriation of $6 million for fiscal year 2023 to address ongoing increased food security needs. Food insecurity for any family in Vermont is not OK. We have an urgent and important need right now. And we look to our state leaders to fund solutions to addressing hunger today. Every day at the Upper Valley Haven, we see at least 50 households experiencing food insecurity coming to our doors for help. We are able to do the work we do because of the support of the Vermont Food Bank. They help us have reliable, consistent access to healthy food options for our customers. Items like fresh produce, dairy, meats, and whole grains that many of us take for granted, but that the food insecure do not. As we all face rising prices of everything from food to fuel, no one feels that pressure greater than those already struggling financially. Food is often the first thing cut from someone's budget. The Food Bank helps us provide a crucial safety net for people. Again, I ask that you please support the Vermont Food Bank and appropriation of $6 million for fiscal year 2023 to address ongoing increased food security needs. Thank you for listening. Thank you. Kate, Brian is next, and then Kate Warner is after the second Kate to testify. Hi there. Are we all set? Yes, please start. Good afternoon. My name is Kate Bryan, and I'm from Arlington, where I'm the director of development and community relations at Baton Kill Valley Health Center. Please support the Vermont Food Bank with an appropriation of $6 million for fiscal year 2023 to address Vermonters ongoing food security needs. The Food Bank helps families who are experiencing food insecurity issues by getting needed supplies into their communities. And as of next week, they will help us here at Baton Kill Valley Health Center address those issues in the Arlington area with the start of Veggie Van Gogh events monthly. My work with the Vermont Food Bank's Veggie Van Gogh events started in May of 2020. At that time, our patients were telling us that they were struggling to secure healthy, fresh foods, which was ultimately affecting their overall health. I won't pretend to know all of the food security struggles that face Vermonters, but I would like to share a few that I see locally as proof of ongoing food security needs. At my first Veggie Van Gogh in Bennington in 2020, we provided food to roughly 300 families. This past December, we served 500 families. Our Help Yourself shelf here at the Health Center, which consists of non-perishable foods, is available to all patients and replenished every two weeks with nearly 200 pounds of food. That's over 5,000 pounds annually. And the number one reason our patients say they can't follow a healthy diet is that they can't that consists of fruit and vegetables as part of their care plan is it's just too expensive. The Arlington area consists of a population of really roughly 2,800. We have four convenience stores offering necessities, often at increased price points as their availability is just that a convenience. None of them carry fresh vegetables or fruits. We truly live in a food desert with the nearest grocery store 13 miles away. At Baton Kill Valley Health Center, we believe that food is medicine. The health of our patients who happen to be my family, my friends and my neighbors depend on having access to healthy options that are provided through the Vermont Food Bank initiatives, bringing veggie van go to Arlington would not be possible without them. Again, I ask you to support the Vermont Food Bank with an appropriation of $6 million. Thank you. Thank you. Kate Warner and then Tina Spots. My name is Kate Warner, senior project manager at the trust or public land, a nonprofit land conservation organization that creates new public land all over the country. I want to talk about impact. Last week, a New York Times article by David Goodman titled a town that saved the mountain and a mountain that saved the town clearly described the impact that VHCB investments have in our state and our communities. The story is about the community of West Windsor who was suffering from the closure of the economic engine of their town, a Skutney ski resort. They decided to take matters in their own hands and forge a new future. With funding from VHCB and private foundations and donors, the town purchased the former ski resort land in 2015 to add to the West Windsor town forest. In the six years since the acquisition, they have transformed their community into a four season recreation destination and right size their community skier yet to make it available to all families of all income levels. VHCB investment helped make this transformation possible. Now is the time to fully fund VHCB at its full statutory share of 35.2 million. Receipts from the property transfer tax have increased dramatically due to the volume and high prices of real estate transactions the past two years. This reflects greater threats to our farms and forests and higher prices for land. That is why the legislature originally tied VHCB funding to the property transfer tax. So the funding would increase in concert with increased pressures on the land. If VHCB would receive $15 million in general funds as the governor recommended in his budget, conservation would receive roughly six million. This is less than what we received last year and less than what is needed to meet increased costs. We expect real estate costs will continue to rise as more people move to Vermont attracted to the quality of life that VHCB has worked so hard to protect. This is the moment VHCB was meant for to prevent the irrevocable loss of working and natural lands. Given the long-term trends it's important to reset VHCB to its statutory imperative now. Thank you. Thank you. Tina and then Claire Kendall. Hi, I am Tina Spots, the nurse from Otter Valley Middle and High School from Rutland Northeast Supervisory Union in Brandon, Vermont. Thank you for the opportunity to share with you today. I'm here today to ask you to please support the Vermont Food Bank with an appropriation of six million for the fiscal year 23 to address on-growing increased food security needs. Otter Valley has been operating a veggie-bango free produce distribution in partnership with the Vermont Food Bank for just about a year. Over the summer I became a volunteer at this site. The response from the community was slow at the beginning. As school reconvened in the fall I began advertising more to the public and to the school community. Veggie-bango has become a wonderful asset to many families within the school district. When I heard that the hours were not convenient for working people that's from 10 to 11 in the morning the Food Bank and I worked together to obtain grant money and arrange bus transportation for shares to be taken to the five district schools. Otter Valley, Lothrop, Barstow, Neshaby and Lester. We supply these schools with about 120 shares to be distributed. At least two programs use the shares to do cooking and school programs. This has allowed students to be exposed to fruits and vegetables they typically don't have with a plus that they are involved in the preparation as well as eating them. A couple of comments from people who have used the program. Veggie-bango is a great program and I hope it continues. It has encouraged me to eat healthier and to try new things. It also is a great savings. Produce is not cheap. Another parent claims there is excitement each time about what daddy will bring home and then learning about how to use the veggies for example parsnips. This has created interesting interactions and conversations with my young children regarding food products, healthy eating, cooking, farming. A lot of value for the program that just within these conversations. It has also taken a bit of burden off our grocery bill. Losing such a program as this would be unfortunate on multiple fronts. Parents have started making soup with many vegetables and have said how much their children like the soup. Veggie-bango has been a huge asset to the Rutland Northeast Supervisor Union community. Please support the Vermont Food Bank with an appropriation of 6 million for fiscal year 23 to address ongoing increased food security needs and continue to support families like the ones in my district. Thank you. Thank you, Tina. Claire Kendall, please. Good afternoon. My name is Claire Kendall, co-director of the Family Center of Washington County. Thank you for the opportunity to testify and thank you for your ongoing support and for your service on behalf of Remanters. My request is to fully fund the parent child centers essential work with families and young children. Our request for PCCs is to increase the base funding by 1.5 million for a total of 4.8 million in the PCC line in the FY23 budget and a second year of 3.7 million one-time funding to address the needs of families with young children due to the COVID pandemic. This appropriation is an S91 and is a very important part of the bill. PCCs deliver critical and essential state services to families with young children throughout integrated contracts and grants with DCF. The impact of the pandemic on the mental health and wellbeing of families has been significant. The loss of connections due to childcare disruptions, school interruptions and a loss of community-based social interactions has resulted in increased isolation, anxiety and depression throughout our communities. PCC has used our fund COVID relief dollars to provide families with immediate critical needs. Throughout COVID, PCC has made sure families we work with across the state have access to goods and services that address a family's needs such as food, housing, clothing, healthcare and childcare. We have diaper banks that give out thousands of diapers, wipes and formula and food pantries providing food and other basic necessities to families. Throughout the pandemic, PCC has made our mission to provide critical supports to parents and children. Parent child centers provide parents with the knowledge, skills and resources they need to care for their children. We work to strengthen families and the communities across Vermont. Children do well when their parents do well. Thank you again for your time today and for your dedication and services during these challenging times. Thank you, Claire. Katja Evans and then Anne Gallo from New Fane. Good afternoon. My name is Katja Evans and I'm the Community Relations Coordinator at Gifford Healthcare in Randolph, Vermont. Gifford Healthcare is a community partner of the Vermont Food Bank working closely to provide healthy and nutritious food for a monthly Veggie Van Gogh events. I'm here today to ask you that you please support the Vermont Food Bank with an appropriation of $6 million for fiscal year 2023 to address the ongoing food security needs faced by Vermonters. The pandemic has placed a tremendous strain on individuals and families. As recently published data by UVM Food Systems researchers show, Vermont continues to see increased levels of food insecurity compared to before the pandemic began. At Gifford, we witness this firsthand at our monthly Veggie Van Gogh drive-through event which has been serving an average of 535 families each month during the pandemic compared with 260 families before April 2020. The demand has been so high. In fact, we added an additional monthly Veggie Van Gogh event where we distribute produce directly to vulnerable patients and community partners through our community health centers. We are now distributing food to more than 700 families per month. We are able to meet the overwhelming need of our community because of the ongoing support of the Vermont Food Bank. As someone who volunteers to distribute food at these events, I hear time and again the positive impacts these events have on people. They are so thankful supports like this are available conveniently in their community. This is why I'm asking you today to support the Vermont Food Bank with an appropriation of $6 million for fiscal year 2023 so that the work to address food insecurity right here in Vermont in our own communities can continue. Thank you very much for your time and consideration. Thank you, Anne and then Jill Orochi. So Senator Kitchell. Yes. For some reason the room has disappeared from the Zoom so you're not in communication with Representative Fagan or the committee anymore. Anne Golub is not here so I'm going to Jill Orochi. But they are listening here. Okay, all right. Jill, we'll go to you next. Jill, are you able to see the timer? I'm trying to unmute her. Jill, unmute yourself. Thank you. Thank you, Jill. You can start. Can you see the timer on your screen? Not really because I'm reading from my screen but I think I'm pretty good. Okay, all right. Well, we'll let you know. Okay, thank you. Actually, I have a little stopwatch here. I'll set that and that'll help. Okay. Good afternoon. I am Jill Orochi, Executive Director of the Vermont Association of Conservation Districts. I live in Waitsfield in the beautiful Mad River Valley. Thank you for this opportunity to speak with you about VACD's appropriations request on behalf of Vermont's Natural Resources Conservation Districts. I've provided you with a detailed version of our request which I will summarize here as well as a link to our 2021 annual report so you can learn more about conservation district work. The Vermont State Natural Resources Conservation Council NRCC and Vermont's Natural Resources Conservation Districts were authorized by the Vermont Soil Conservation Act of 1939 to provide for the conservation, development and use of the natural resources of the state of Vermont in order to protect and promote the health, safety and general welfare of its people. Vermont's 14 conservation districts are governmental subdivisions established by landowners through the petitioning process outlined in the act and they operate under the authority of NRCC to assist in the implementation of conservation practices at the local level. Vermont's conservation districts are trusted and effective members of the agricultural and conservation communities. District staff members maintain a wealth of skills and information necessary to address the unique needs of local land stewards and a variety of natural resource concerns. However, unlike other conservation districts in other states, Vermont districts do not receive adequate funding through state appropriations and our ability to fully exercise our potential is limited by a lack of resources. The only consistent funding that districts receive from the state is an annual grant of 112,000 through the agency of agriculture's budget which results in less than 8,000 per district and provides minimal administrative support to NRCC. The work that conservation districts do in Vermont communities is becoming increasingly important especially in light of the state's clean water goals, Vermont's climate action plan and initiatives to support the economic viability of our agricultural community. In order to do our work effectively, we are requesting a total of 3.85 million in state funding to meet immediate needs in three different categories for fiscal year 2023. We are requesting 2.1 million in one-time funding for a three-year agricultural resource specialist program. 1,388,000 in base funding to increase district score budgets and 248,000 in one-time funding for immediate equipment and capital improvement needs. Thank you for listening and thank you for your consideration. Thank you. Our next witness is Samantha Green followed by Jane Van Buren. Hi, thank you so much for receiving my witness testimony here. My name is Samantha Davidson Green and I'm joining you from Hartford, Vermont at CATV Community Access Television with the Peg Access Media Center serving the Upper Valley, including the Vermont towns of Norwich, Hartford and Heartland. I'd like to revise my comments a little bit on the basis of Lauren Glens and Bob Stannard's wonderful comments that I think make the case and help me know how well you on both the House and Senate sides understand the critical function of the Peg Access stations as well as the funding circumstances that we are facing. But I would like to join my colleagues at the Vermont Access Network and the 24 Peg Stations in making a request for your support for an appropriation of $600,000 in fiscal year 2023. You know as elected officials the critical function of local media in connecting local government with communities, especially during these crisis times. And you also have great evidence here of the work of all of these organizations that have just blown my mind listening to these other testimonies. And one of the things that we do is act as the glue for all the great work that people are doing to serve the public good in Vermont. Here in my little corner, the Upper Valley Haven is my neighbor who spoke earlier. We are elevating the efforts of conservation, of public health, of arts and culture, of activism addressing racism. We have created more than 900 hours of local meetings in the last year and had more than 150 youth and adult participants in our media education programs empowering people with the skills to be effective communicators in a world that depends increasingly on media to have a voice in our civic life. We foster a strong sense of local identity and cohesion. Thank you so much for listening to my testimony. I hope you'll support the FY2023 appropriation of $600,000 for PEG access stations. Thank you. Thank you. Jane Van Buren and then Stephanie Bonnan. I'm trying to get in. Well, you're in. Am I in? Oh, there I am. Hi. So good afternoon, everybody. My name is Jane Van Buren and I'm the part-time executive director of Child Care Resources, which is based in Williston and provides children's integrated services, specialized childcare to Chittenden County childcare providers in the children in their care. CCR has been part of the CIS bundle since it began in 2009. Statewide, CIS received no increases in funding for 12 years, but during that time, we did witness a significant increase in demand for integrated services and a significant decrease in our ability to pay for staff to deliver services. In FY22, the CIS budget received an increase. Thank you very much, but it did not go far enough to address the need. Last year, state funding increases brought the monthly case rate up to 600 per client per month, $600, with a current total annual CIS funding approximately 11.5 million. An increase to a per member per month rate to a level that covers actual cost of services requires a $1.8 million increase in the annual CIS budget to bring it to $13.3 million. In FY23, we are asking for full funding to bring the CIS case rate to $700 per client per month. What would that mean for families, children and children in childcare? As you know, there's a severe staffing shortage in the childcare industry in Vermont. That couple with COVID has stretched the resilience and capacity of providers and families. At CCR, we have seen an increase, particularly in the past two years of young children being expelled from early care for challenging behaviors, which means children must take time off from work. And more importantly, nobody, the provider, the family, nor the child receive the support they need to move forward. Funding for funding, fully funding CIS would translate into an increased capacity to prevent traumatic situations. I urge you to fully support, fully fund CIS for Vermont's children and help reduce the consequences of childhood trauma in adults. Thank you very much. Thank you. Stephanie and then Chris Hardy. Senator, Chris Hardy had to leave. Oh, okay. Then we'll, after Stephanie, Ms. Elise Schoenbacher. Hi, I'm Stephanie Bohnen. I'm the executive director of Downtown Brattabur Alliance and also one of three on the leadership team of the newly formed Vermont Downtown Coalition. I'm here to ask you for your support of Vermont Downtowns. There is on any given moment of the day, you can see me working on things like hand-in-hand with a business owner, trying to figure out putting a shopping cart on their website or scheming and planning and fundraising around gallery walk, which is essential for us to hold up our creative economy here in Southern Vermont. Or I could be working in partnership with Boys and Girls Club in distributing everyone eats meals, which we're still distributing 3,000 a week. So we do all of this in the downtown organization world because we know that the health and vitality of our downtown is really the weather vein of our community. And our community is the weather vein of our town. And then it ripples to the entire state. So the program was established in state statue in 1998 to create these downtown programs. However, the ACCD Downtown Program has never been funded by state dollars. And so our essential work suffers from a lack of funding. And we're asking you all to fund the downtown organizations in the amount of $485,000. And that's $20,000 for each of the 23 downtown groups and $25,000 for the Vermont Downtown Coalition. I think that this pandemic has underscored the importance of community like we've never seen before. And this investment would support the success and the vitality of our community centers, which are really just such a precious resource for us. So thank you for listening. And I hope that you'll support our funding request. Thank you very much, Stephanie. I'm going back to Chris. I'm going to Chris next and then Elise after Chris. Good afternoon. My name is Chris Hardy. I'm a resident of Irisburg and I'm the director of adult education and literacy from Northeast Kingdom Learning Services. One of the four adult ed providers in the state, we cover Orleans Essex and Caledonia counties. I'm here today to ask you to please support the statewide adult education literacy provider network with an additional appropriation of $1.4 million in FY23 to address both historic underfunding and ongoing expenses related to the COVID-19 pandemic. The adult education literacy providers serve adults in Vermont who need help with basic skills in order to access other educational or career opportunities. Adult education and literacy provide offer a broad range of services that are targeted, tailored and relevant to each student's goals and needs. For example, N-E-K-L-S had a student who came to us after leaving school due to bullying issues. This student was so shy and quiet that when she started, she hardly spoke to staff. However, she had a dream of opening her own taxidermy shop. So her high school completion plan contextualized her learning from small business management to job shadowing. Everything in her plan was in support of her reaching her goals. When she graduated, the student had come out of her shell and it was a vibrant young leaf. She even chose to walk with her class. She now owns and operates her own successful taxidermy shop here in Vermont. This was for students like this at the AEL system in Vermont is so vital. So again, please support the statewide adult education literacy provider network with an additional appropriation of 1.4 million in FY23 to assist us in this critical work of helping Vermonters improve their lives. Thank you for listening. Thank you, Chris, Elise, and then Janet McLaughlin. Hi there. I'm Elise Chanbacker and I'm the Executive Director at the Addison County Community Trust as well as the Secretary for the Virgin's Partnership or Downtown Organization here in Virgin's. First, I'd like to speak in support of funding to support Vermont's downtown organizations in particular requests to provide funding of 485,000 for the Vermont Downtown Coalition that would include $20,000 for each downtown organization. Even this modest investment leverages countless volunteer hours. And in the case of Virgin's it increased our ability substantially to promote our downtown and undertake projects that increase economic development and quality of life from bike repair stations to community events. We have over 20 years of proven success ensuring the vitality of downtown Virgin's. I'm especially proud that during the pandemic we helped keep our restaurants afloat and we're actually able to support the launch of several new businesses. I hope you'll strongly support this investment in the heart of Vermont's communities. Second, on behalf of the Addison County Community Trust I'd like to advocate for full statutory funding at BHCB at $35.2 million. Flexible BHCB funding will allow Vermont to leverage hundreds of millions of dollars in federal funding for housing, money that we risk leaving on the table if we don't provide adequate capacity to BHCB. This money will create new homes for low and moderate income Vermonters like the 20 new apartments ACCT will break ground on this year in Bristol. Four of those units will be dedicated to permanent homes for people without houses to address the homelessness crisis. When housing costs have reached record heights and have driven strong property transfer tax revenues now is the time to fulfill our obligation to fully fund BHCB with its statutory share of PTT dollars. Thanks very much for your time and hard work on these momentous challenges and opportunities facing Vermont today. Thank you, Elise. Janet and then Johanna Lidback. My name is Janet McLaughlin and I am the Executive Director of the Vermont Association for the Education of Young Children. Vermont AUIC is the state's largest professional organization of early childhood educators and their allies. And their allies, I am here today on behalf of our 500 members to let you know that Vermont needs both immediate action to ensure that early childhood education survives the present moment and long-term strategic investments that create their early childhood education system that you envisioned in Act 45 last year. Early childhood educators are central to that vision and compensation that values them for their skilled work is essential. Right now, they are among the lowest paid employees in the state in spite of their skills, education, expertise and value to our kids, families, communities and the economy. First, so to support the talented early childhood educators to enter and remain in the field, Vermont should address three of the most common barriers, health insurance, student loans and ironically childcare costs. The state should offer premium assistance to ensure that all early childhood educators have access to health insurance and health services that they can afford. The state should expand the student loan repayment assistance program that's currently in development to those who have earned degrees in the last 20 years. And three, the state should cover the cost of childcare for children of early childhood educators working in regulated programs. The second major piece of investment is that Vermont must create a robust workforce development strategy for their early childhood education field as the state has done for other fields that are central to Vermont's economy. Vermont AUIC is ready to partner with the state to embed early childhood education into all state workforce development programs and to establish a coordinated resource recruitment campaign that attracts talented educators. Thank you. Thank you. And then Dan Groberg from Downtown Coalition. Okay. Thank you, Madam Chair. My name is Joanna Lidback. My husband and I have a dairy farm in Westmore and I'm also a supervisor for the Orleans County Conservation District part of the Vermont Association of Conservation Districts. Today, I'm asking you to please support the conservation districts with a one-time appropriation of 2.1 million for a three-year ag resource specialist training program, another one-time appropriation of 248,000 and funding for immediate equipment needs and 1.5 million in base funding to support ongoing operational costs. Tell you a quick story. My farm in Westmore itself has benefited greatly from working with our district manager. His name is Sarah Damsell. Not only did she help us get started working through our first nutrient management plan, which is required of us as a certified small dairy farm now, but she also has orchestrated various other projects drawing on programs and available funds to support such things as livestock exclusion fencing from the brook that cuts our land in half, barnyard improvement, enhanced manure management storage and a new road drainage system and sediment retention basin for our road in Westmore. One of the best things about working with Sarah is how she takes the time to understand what we're up against as a small farm with respect to a limited resources, not just in terms of capital, but also in terms of manpower and her perseverance in seeing us through these wonderful conservation projects that offer so much for our community. So not only is she helping us to keep up with required ag practices, but she's also helping us to go above and beyond. A flyer discussing the projects that we've done is posted on our website at BACD.org, just search the farm at Wheeler Mountain. Her work with us in our town is so important and I know that there are many more small farms in Vermont, any farm size in Vermont who could benefit from the work of people like Sarah throughout our Vermont conservation districts. So that's why I'm here today, asking for your support of the conservation districts for your fiscal year 23 budget request. Thank you. Thank you. Dan and then Sarah Roy. Senator, so Sarah Roy was the one that left, I was given the wrong information. Okay, then after Dan is Peter Danfuss. Good afternoon and thank you. My name is Dan Groberg, I'm the executive director of Montpelier Alive, Montpelier's downtown organization, in addition to serving on the leadership team of the Vermont Downtown Coalition. The Vermont Downtown Coalition is a new alliance of 23 downtown organizations that have organized to support, grow and strengthen Vermont's historic downtowns here to encourage your continued and increased investment in our downtowns. Vermont downtown organizations are the statutorily created organizations that support our Vermont downtown program. The Vermont downtown program was established in state statute in 1998, soon incentivized the creation of designated downtowns which have provided communities with financial incentives, training and technical assistance to restore historic buildings, improve housing, design livable communities and encourage economic development. Downtown organizations like mine are on the front lines in our communities, supporting small businesses and making our communities more inviting places to live, work and visit. During the pandemic, our work has become even more vital from helping businesses build e-commerce platforms to literally sitting by the side of business owners as they complete their COVID grant applications to creating safe events and promotional campaigns to bring business back into our downtowns. Our organizations have helped sustain the life of our communities. And yet, despite this critical work, Vermont Downtown organizations are not supported by state dollars. To ensure the continued success of the Vermont Downtown program, we're asking for you to fund the 23 downtown organizations. Together, the Vermont Downtown Coalition and the downtown organizations will spur COVID recovery and overall growth in our state. And this event investment will support the success and vitality of one of our state's most precious resources, our downtowns. As my colleague, Stephanie shared, we're asking for funding of $485,000, $20,000 for each of the 23 downtown organizations and $25,000 to support the Vermont Downtown Coalition. Thank you for supporting our shared prosperity and investing in our downtowns. Thank you. Peter Danforth and then Jennifer Burke. Hi, everyone. My name is Peter Danforth. I am a resident of Underhill Center and a district manager of Lamoille County Natural Resource Conservation District. I am testifying today to request for year 2023 funding for one-time and ongoing funds for the Vermont Natural Resource Conservation Districts of $2.1 million in one-time funding for a three-year agricultural resource specialist training program, $248,000 in one-time funding for immediate equipment and capital improvement needs, and $1,388,000 in base funding to increase the NRCC budget line item to $1.5 million to support ongoing Natural Resource Conservation District operational costs. As manager of a conservation district, I am responsible with my staff for connecting people, organizations, and resources to steward our land and water resources for the future. As an example, Lamoille NRCD facilitated two lake watershed action plans over the last four years. The assessments of Lake Eden and Lake Elmore involved a participation of at least six state departments and independent contractor, lake associations, private landowners, adjacent towns, and community groups. Lamoille County NRCD acted as a catalyst to bring together these diverse actors to complete these action plans. Now for the next four years, our district must spearhead their implementation an effort that can only be accomplished through ongoing supportive relationships with these numerous entities. If during the process of implementing these action plans, a district were to lose a key staff member, entire projects would be set back for years. Our conservation districts are currently funded at levels that do not promote longevity and staff retention. Our state relies on healthy, long-acting organizations to implement essential conservation and clean water projects, which is why we are requesting this FY 2023 appropriations request. Thanks for listening. Thank you. Jennifer and then Eric Adelson. Thank you so much. My name is Jennifer Byrne. I am the district manager of the White River Natural Resources Conservation District. We cover Orange and some of Windsor County. I'm here today to ask you to please support the Vermont Conservation District with a one-time appropriation of $2.1 million for a three-year agriculture resource specialist training program, another one-time appropriation of $248,000 for immediate equipment and capital improvement needs, and a $1.5 million in base funding to support ongoing operational costs. Vermont's Natural Resource Conservation Districts are rooted in communities, and these roots help to strengthen and support the environment. In 2021, Conservation Districts assisted 542 farms across the state, collected 1,421 soil, manure, and water quality samples, assisted with 86 nutrient management plants, planted 7,705 trees and shrubs to build their runoff from agricultural land, conserved 1,580 acres through village manure injection and cover crops via our rental equipment, hosted 39 workshops and events, and assessed 9,718 acres of agricultural land for water quality concern. Currently, 38% of our funding comes through federal resources. With appropriations, we will easily be able to leverage the state appropriation as match funding to bring in even more federal conservation dollars for Vermont. Please support the Conservation Districts with this one-time appropriation of $2.1 million for our three-year agricultural resource specialist training program, the one-time appropriation of $248,000 for equipment and capital improvements, and $1.5 million in base funding to support ongoing operational costs. Thank you so much for listening to you and considering that. Thank you. After Eric is Walter Medlin. Eric? Yes, could you hear me? Yes, we can hear you and we can see you. Good. My name is Eric Avelton. I'm the executive director of Vermont Legal Aid. I know that many of you are already familiar with Vermont Legal Aid and the work that we do. I've testified in front of the appropriations committees many times with essentially the same message. State funding for Vermont Legal Aid services to low-income Vermonters has been unchanged for many years, and that will not change unless the legislature directs AHS to increase the funding level. It is the unfortunate reality that because we are sometimes representing Vermonters in proceedings against the state, AHS has never viewed its role as responsible for ensuring the adequacy of our funding. Thus, I must turn each year to this committee to either restore a proposed cut or provide for a cost of living or other increase. Legal Aid has received a grant from the secretary or central office of AHS for almost 50 years. That grant directs us to represent low-income Vermonters in civil cases, as well as everyone in the state facing commitment or involuntary medication. Last year, the legislature transferred responsibility for mental health matters in criminal cases from the public offender to Vermont Legal Aid. The state also provided an additional $250,000 to help us cover the cost of hiring two new attorneys to do that work. However, those funds, however, the funds available to help low-income Vermonters in civil cases has remained unchanged for seven years. This can be starkly seen on the graph I included in my handout, where it shows that there has been no increase at all in our core funding since state fiscal year 2016. Since the pandemic began, calls to our hotline and requests for help have doubled, now are more than 20,000 a year. While we are grateful for the targeted, stimulus-related grants we have received, those funds are directed to responding to very specific legal problems, such as non-payment of rent or mortgage foreclosure. It cannot be helped to use this help answer the hotline generally, represent domestic violence victims, or help people whose unemployment claims have been wrongly denied. We respectfully ask you to direct the HHS to commit an additional $150,000 in general funds and the intended federal match to bring Legal Aid back to the funding level in 2016. Thank you. Thank you, Eric, Walter, and then after Abby, of course. Good afternoon. My name is Walter Medwood. I live in Derby. I serve as an associate supervisor on the Orleans County Natural Resources Conservation District. Thank you for the opportunity to testify. I volunteered on the board of the Orleans County Natural Resources District for some six years and have come to know firsthand the value the district brings to Orleans County in Vermont. I urge you to support the three funding streams for training, capital, and ongoing operational support of the conservation districts. In my capacity as a board member, I have had the opportunity to witness the work of our district staff on farms, on road erosion projects helping town road supervisors, and in water sampling to measure the results of our pre and post remediation projects. Our professional staff build key community relationships and provide essential services and the board would like to be able to support them appropriately and provide fuller benefits. The districts serve as local critical catalysts in helping farmers, towns, and private property owners navigate the paperwork, paperwork process, and most importantly, deliver results on the ground. Districts also navigate for farmers, towns, and citizens the funding sources to make conservation projects become reality. The work is vitally important to our land and waterscape, however, districts are under great pressure to sustain the great work being done. That's why this funding request is so important. I urge you to support these requests. I know firsthand that each dollar granted will translate into multiple dollars worth of project deliverables that help conserve our land and waters. Thank you for your consideration of my comments. Thank you. Abby and then Jess Phelps. Good afternoon. Thank you for having me here today. My name is Abby Kors and I live in Whitingham, Vermont. I am testifying today in support of the Natural Resources Conservation District's funding requests for fiscal year 2023 of 2.1 million in one-time funding for a three-year agricultural resource specialist training program, 248,000 in one-time funding for immediate equipment and capital improvement needs, and 1.5 million in base funding to support ongoing needs. I'm speaking in my capacity as the farm and forest sector representative to the Vermont Climate Council and a co-chair of its Agriculture and Ecosystem Subcommittee. We find ourselves in a moment where strategic investments in climate change adaptation and resilience efforts are critical. To quote from the Climate Action Plan, the strategies that the state of Vermont must take to secure the health, resilience, and benefits of climate adaptation in natural and working lands include critical investments in the upfront costs of proactive implementation of adaptation practices, research, and training to support land managers in making climate-informed plans and decisions, greater support for floodplain and riparian restoration efforts, and enhanced protections of biodiversity. In an amazing opportunity, funding the NRCD in this way would mean that work towards all of the above goals could be sustained and enhanced. The NRCD has already done so much incredible work to capacitate and resource landowners, farmers, and citizens in addition to building long-lasting relationship with their communities, which I'm certain you all very well understand to be the underpinning of how good work is done. Farmers in particular, of which I am one, are a notoriously tricky lot to reach, but the NRCD has already begun successful work in this regard. These folks are ready to get boots on the ground, roll up their sleeves, and continue working towards our shared goals of adaptation and resilience. They just need the funding to do it. And a gratitude to you all for your hard work on behalf of Vermont's citizenry and my hopes that you will deeply consider our funding request. Thank you. Thank you, Abby. Just after Jess Ernest-Caswell. Good afternoon, my name is Jess Phelps. I'm here today as a board member of the Vermont Land Trust. Vermont has many affordability challenges today, and it's not just families seeking to get access to affordable housing, it's farmers seeking to get access to farmland. And I think we're fortunate in Vermont to have the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board that addresses both issues and views them as being linked. The cost of farmland has risen beyond the reach of many seeking to get access to farmland, and this crisis threatens our unique quality of life, our cost of living, and if not addressed, potentially leads to irreversible loss of farms, forests, and other natural resources. I work the fair amount with farmers seeking to get access to land. And in many instances, without the funding of the BHCB, it would have been very difficult to fill the gap between sort of the fair market value of those assets and the land value that they were able to pay. There's a robust pipeline of conservation projects that could benefit from full funding of the BHCB at its statutory level. And I ask that you consider that request. This is important, not just for the affordability and sustainability of BHCB and the conservation projects that it carries out, but it also can accelerate land protection efforts, affordability efforts, enhance climate mitigation efforts, and strengthen farm businesses and our rural farm economy. Thank you for your time in considering these requests. Thank you, Jess. Ernest and then Pam Ladz. He is not responding to my nudges, Ernest. Well, we could go to Pam and come back. Wait, here he comes. Okay. Hello. My name is Ernest Caswell. I grew up in Randolph and a four-year agricultural student. I work in agriculture all my life, including full-time. And I'm a member of the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition. And I would please support and fund farm worker housing projects that will be coming out of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board. They're working on new projects there. Farm worker housing affects so many Vermonters. Everybody in agriculture is affected by affordable housing and deserves a safe home. And building homes on the farm, repairing and improving present farm worker housing and building homes off the farm for farm workers is very much needed. Agriculture sits on top of the Capitol. And the symbol of agriculture sits on a home. And the home of all Vermonters and everybody in agriculture, farmers and workers, they need safe homes. And we all deserve a safe home. And please fund VHCB, fully, completely and support building homes for everyone in agriculture and repairing homes. If Maine can do it, other states can do it, New York can do it, many, many states, Vermont can too. So please support our agriculture, support VHCB and support organizations and so on that will build affordable homes on and off the farms and support our agriculture community and link the two, affordability of homes and agriculture. Our agriculture is a big industry. Thank you for your time. Thank you very much. Well, thank you, Mr. Caswell. Pam and then Patricia Tedesco. Thank you for being willing to listen to my comments today. My name is Pam Lads, I live in Newport. I'm happy to see that Bobby Starr is sitting there today because I'm talking in his backyard. My comments are a little different, a little less specific than some of the others you hear today. And I'm not asking for direct dollars. What I'm asking you to do is to look at the state of Vermont in a different way, not asking for money to be taken away from vital services, but you support the requests that focus on clean, safe water. It's impossible to deny now that climate change is a reality. And although there could be a discussion about how we got to this place, there's no doubt that human activity or non-activity has contributed to it. We live in a state that's been defined as green and that apparently means very little, although it certainly pulls in tourists and those fleeing from COVID and other unpleasant realities of this decade. As the state grows in number, that's going to increase demand on existing water, clean water and the solid waste infrastructure. The scarcest resource in the world is water. And that's one thing we cannot live without and yet we continue to poison it regardless of the impact that that has on our daily living and on future generations. Any of us with children and grandchildren would like to leave the world in a better condition, not worse, and to increase lifespans and prevent diseases. However, if we don't do things differently, that's not going to happen. We've poisoned water with forever chemicals, heavy metals, pharmaceutical products, storm runoff, agricultural runoff, petroleum products, plastics, et cetera, et cetera. And our solutions have been tokenistic swipes at individual pollutants, such as PFAS in ski wax, as opposed to banning the entire class of more than 9,000 individual chemicals. Of course, we should do what we can individually, but that's inadequate. And as long as lobbyists funded by the industries polluting have more leverage than citizens, that will be hard to change. Those of you sitting today are in a really difficult position. You're expected to have a vast knowledge of diverse subject matter and to make far-reaching decisions that will impact all of us. Of course, you rely on experts, but many of those are foxes, not chickens. And you are expected to make decisions based on very little information, at least not from those of us living in the areas impacted. There's only one working landfill in the entire state of Vermont, privately owned, beholden to its shareholders, not those living in the vicinity or the rest of the state. It's located. Thank you. Please submit the rest of, please submit this in writing so that we can read it. Thank you. Thank you. And the timer is there. And so we hate to cut people off, but we have a number of more witnesses. So if you run out of time, please feel free to provide additional testimony in writing. So Patricia and then we have Christopher, we're Sima from Vermont Access Network. Good afternoon. Thank you for being here and thank you for taking our testimony today. You see behind me a map of Vermont that's integral to the work that we do. Patricia Tedesco with the Home Access Program at the Vermont Center for Independent Living. I am a resident of Woodbury, Vermont. And as you most of you know, our program is statewide, we're a cross disability rights organization. We work with folks who have disabilities and specifically in the Home Access Program, they must have a physical mobility disability. We are asking today for you to support full funding, statutory funding for Vermont Housing and Conservation Board. That is our primary funding resource. And I have also supplied a packet of information with some stories and photos. Believe most of the House Appropriation Committee has seen similar packet from the last month's testimony. I wanted to read you a small story that we have from a gentleman in Franklin County who got a RAM and his story is such. Before I received the RAM, I had to stay in the house 24 seven. Now that I have my RAM, I can go for a walk with my grandson. If someone doesn't know about the Vermont Center's Home Access Program, I would tell them this is the best program ever. What's kind of cute about this, if you look at the packet, is the gentleman uses an electric wheelchair but he considers going for a walk with his grandson. And that's what we do. We help people live independently, remain in their homes so they don't have to go to a nursing home. We appreciate your time and consideration. And if you have any other questions, you can always reach out to me by email or phone. Thank you for your time. Thank you. Christopher and then Maria King. Hi, thank you so much. My name is Christopher Virsma. I live in Montpelier and serve as the project coordinator with Vermont Access Network and the community engagement manager with Orca Media in Montpelier. I also act as director and instructor with the Vermont Youth Documentary Lab, our Youth Media Arts Education Program at Orca Media. I'm joining my colleagues today within the PEG TV community to ask that you please support the Vermont Access Network. And it's 24 PEG TV community media centers with an appropriation of $600,000 in FY 2023. PEG TV and nonprofit community media centers across the state of Vermont are an incredibly valuable resource and service from providing gavel to gavel coverage of government meetings to offering free media arts education. Personally speaking as director of our community media centers, youth media programs and having worked with local youth media makers, PEG TV community media centers act as a hub for media arts education and video and audio production skills training, offering free and low-cost programming workshops and mentorships throughout the year and serving as an opportunity for young people to get their hands on creative media arts projects that connect them with their local communities, their local governments, current events. And our work continues to empower youth along with community media producers of all ages to tell their stories. So please support the Vermont Access Network and it's 24 PEG TV media centers with an FY 2023 appropriation of $600,000. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you. Maria and then David Martins. Good afternoon. My name is Maria King from St. Albans. I am the long-term care administrator for Cathedral Square, a service-oriented affordable housing organization that operates two assisted living communities. Cathedral Square assisted living in downtown Burlington and Memory Care, Allenbrook in Williston, Vermont's first affordable assisted living specializing in memory care. I would like to thank the committee for the opportunity to testify on the governor's 2023 budget today. I understand the governor included a 3% increase to the reimbursement rate for long-term care services provided in-home and community-based settings like Cathedral Square assisted living residences. Well, that is a step in the right direction and appreciated. It is inadequate to respond to the staffing shortages we are facing. We respectfully request your committee to consider a 10% increase to the state's Medicaid reimbursement rate. Cathedral Square, like all other long-term care communities, has experienced unprecedented ongoing staffing shortages throughout the last two years. The shortages have impacted all positions, nursing, caregiving, cooks, housekeepers, custodial and administration. Our staff community has been creative and we are all helping in roles we have not before. Administrators supporting care, the CEO, nurses and admin are cooking and serving meals. Our duties do not stop at the end of the day like most other jobs. We cannot put a close sign on our doors. With more than 90% of our assisted living residents relying on Medicaid, we are left with razor-thin margins. Our staff schedules with 20% vacancy have forced us to reduce our assisted living apartments by an equal percentage at a time when our wait for assisted living is five to six years. We need higher Medicaid reimbursement rates now to retain staff and recruit new staff. Beyond the 10% increase to Medicaid reimbursement, we request that you please support the H-153 that passed the house last year. With ongoing review of Medicaid rates, providers like Cathedral Square will have to continue to reduce capacity at a time when older Vermonters need our housing and services more than ever. I would like to close by thanking the committee for your time and attention to this critical matter and the opportunity to speak today. Thank you, Maria. David and then Chad Beaker. Good afternoon. My name is David Martin and I am the director at the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition. I'm here today to request that the Vermont Housing Conservation Board receive the full funding permitted by statute from the property transfer tax of $35.2 million. There's been historic investment in VHCB through the allocation of ARPA dollars, but the need for full statutory funding remains just as urgent. The flexibility that comes with this funding allows projects to continue to creatively address homelessness and develop housing for those at greatest risk. It helps fund programs to address critical and specific housing needs, like the many examples you've heard yesterday and today. It allows the continuation of our investments in maintaining existing affordable housing portfolios. We are uniquely positioned for a great opportunity. The realities of the real estate market have made the PTT allocation this year particularly impactful. And when combined with the unprecedented opportunity before us in ARPA funding, we have the chance to make a solid investment that would bring about a significant impact in meeting our housing needs in Vermont. I'd also just point out the importance of the C in VHCB, conservation. Investment in housing and conservation through statutory funding puts us on a sustainable path toward the vision for Vermont that everyone shares where everyone has access to safe, perpetually affordable and decent housing and our lands, which are of such great importance can be preserved and cared for as the important piece of economic vitality and quality of life that they are. Thank you so much for your time and thank you for all the work that you all do for Vermont each day. Thank you. Chad would be next and then Joseph Gunter from Fairhaven. Oh, my apologies, I brought Joe in before Chad. Well, we can just reverse him if Joseph is available and then we'll go back to Chad. I'm available. Can you guys hear me? Yes, we can and we can see you. Great, well, unfortunately for you. So while I got you, thank you for taking the time to hear my testimony. And while I have you, I'm gonna put it in a plug for PEG TV. So I'm Joe Gunter and the town manager of Fairhaven, Vermont. And PEG TV is, they're our link to our community. Folks learn what the town's doing directly from PEG TV. But the reason I came today is to talk about the appropriations to our regional planning commissions. Since 2001, they're funding across the state been flatlined at about $3 million. Here in Fairhaven, we've done a lot of the same things that you've done in your communities. We've done studies, we've applied for grant funding. We've been working on economic development plans. All of this work is directly supported by our regional planning commissions. As a small town, we couldn't do the work we do without these commissions. They provide us with resources that would not otherwise exist. They give us information and data on transportation, on accidents and fatalities. The things that help make our decision making more accurate and easier. And they give us the information that can make our applications for federal grant funding that much stronger. So today I'm advocating for an increase in funding to our regional planning commissions. It'd be nice to see that number bumped up to about $4 million. That would go a long way to help not just Fairhaven and the smaller communities, but all of our, all of the communities in Vermont. So thank you for your time today. Well, thank you. Now we'll go back to Chad. And then Pat Kilgore would be next. Greetings. Thank you to the members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees for hearing me today. My name is Chad V.J. I am the CEO of Recovery House, which includes Serenity House and Grace House Substance Use Treatment Facilities. I have submitted written testimony for your review, but I wanted to share our goals with this request. As a small nonprofit substance use treatment facility entering our 50th year of serving Vermonters, we have had tremendous difficulty with the impact of COVID and the current workforce crisis, including nursing, counseling and support staff. To the point of having to limit capacity and temporarily discontinue alcohol detoxification services, we have reached a point where we need to improve our rate of pay in order to continue to be competitive within recruiting staff and retaining them. With a larger stable staff, we will be able to resume alcohol detoxification and increase the utilization of our facility, effectively increasing access to Vermonters in need. As you'll see in my written testimony, a reimbursement rate increase of 20% as well as funding for recent lost revenues due to COVID and staffing and the amount of $220,000 will help us in reaching these goals. Thank you for your consideration. Thank you, Chad. Go to Pat Kilgore and then Shelly Henson. This is Pat Kilgore. Yes. Yes. We can hear you. Okay. This is Pat Kilgore and I live in one of the Cathedral Square buildings in South Burlington, Vermont, called Allard Square. We're one of the newer buildings that Cathedral Square has built. I'm speaking to today and I do thank you for the opportunity to testify. I'm speaking to you as a person as in my 70s, a senior citizen who found herself about three and a half years ago in a situation where I was retired. The place where I lived had outpriced me with their annual monthly rental raises and I found myself alone and scared and didn't have the money to move any place because I couldn't have come up with a month's, first month's rent and so forth and so on. And I feel like the priorities today for scared senior citizens and I'm only speaking about us even though there's children out there in need to, that food and shelter is such a priority. And even though we have affordable housing, there are hundreds and hundreds of people on waiting lists, waiting to get in who are equally as scared as I was. And I thank you for your time today and for the opportunity to speak. Thank you for sharing your personal experience and the help that you have received. So we'll move to Shelly Henson and then Sean Tester. Thank you. Shelly. Hi, yes, I'm here. Okay, thank you. Good afternoon. I'm Shelly Henson, the director of Early Education for the Champlain Valley School District and a board member of the Vermont UIC. I'm here to advocate for increasing the allocation in this year's budget for children's integrated services which includes early intervention. Allocating the funds needed to shift the per member per month rate from $600 to $700 is what is needed according to the state's assessment of the costs. Early intervention supports children with developmental delays from birth to age three through a continuum of support and intervention to potentially transitioning to an IEP at the age of three through the school district. The current underfunding of CIS has resulted in two things. The continuous workforce turnover in our local CIS agency resulting in inconsistent services. And number two, some children are not being provided services at the time in their life when brain development is at its peak. In January, our local partner agency was understaffed by four developmental therapists. Underfunding has led to professionals not being compensated at a level that allows CIS to compete in the workforce market. Children are on waiting lists and left without the support that they need and are entitled to by law. The professional relationship and commitment between consistent CIS providers and families is critical to the education system in Vermont. Children are our future workforce and we know early intervention works. From our early learning standards, I'll quote, each and every child benefits from a continuous and seamless sequence of educational and developmental supports throughout early childhood to maximize their full participation and diminish the challenges of transitions. This consistency is particularly important for young children who are most at risk. I also encourage you to allocate one-time funding to improve the data system for CIS. Working efficiently is critical for providers whose time is best spent with children and not working in efficient systems. Thank you for your time and I'm available for more information at my email. Thank you. Thank you, Shelley. Sean Tester and followed by Steve Gordon. Hi, folks. Nice to see you today. So I'm speaking to you as CEO of NBRH, which is among the largest employers of the Northeast Kingdom, but I'm also speaking to you as a trustee for the Vermont State College System. That's why I'm here today. I wanna thank all of you for everything you've done for the Vermont State Colleges and all the money you've invested over the last two years to help us transform and stabilize the system. Right now, the Vermont State College System needs $55.4 million in state support this year. That's $48 million in annual base appropriation and an additional $7.4 million in bridge funding. When it comes to increasing the state support for the base funding, a $12.5 million increase in the annual appropriation as recommended by the select committee brings the VCS to an annual appropriation of the $48 million. We support the governor's recommendation of a $5 million increase to the base appropriation, but more funds are necessary to meet the needs of the system. Bringing this appropriation to $48 million will ensure system viability increases the capacity to adapt to changing conditions and student needs. We also need to provide the bridge funding necessary to address the structural deficit while the system transforms. This is a total of 36.4 million set aside between FY23 and 26. It is imperative the state fund funds this now while there is one time funding available. We need a minimum of 19.9 million in additional funds this year on top of the annual appropriation of 35.5 million. That means $7.4 million in one time funding this year. Investing in the Vermont State College System is an investment in our rural communities with campuses and economic sensors within 25 miles of every person living in the state of Vermont. Vermont State College System makes higher in continuing education accessible to every corner of the state. Thank you for your support. Thank you, Sean. Steve Gordon. Senator Mr. Gordon is evidently no longer with us. Okay. I'm gonna do one final check. Is he gone? He is not here. Okay. That's it, that's Senator. All right. Well, thank you, committee. We have finished our testimony for today and I'm going to adjourn this joint session of the House and Senate Appropriations Committee and this public hearing. Thank you for being here this afternoon and we will obviously be inventorying the testimony and the requests that have been made both last night's hearing as well as today and thank the witnesses for participating in this hearing. So we'll go on.