Vermont religious leaders want the state Legislature to allot more federal Covid-19 money for housing, but lawmakers trying to balance myriad other requests say that’s easier said than done.
Vermont Interfaith Action , a grassroots coalition of nearly 70 spiritual congregations from Brattleboro to Burlington, has asked the House and Senate Appropriations committees to raise spending for affordable housing from a budgeted figure of $50 million to Gov. Phil Scott’s proposal for five times that much.
“We are going to ask you to dream big and make it possible for every Vermonter to have permanent, stable and safe housing,” the group wrote in a new report . “Not only is it the morally right thing to do, but it is also the economically right thing to do.”
The state taps almost $200,000 per night in federal money to shelter nearly 2,800 homeless people in hotels and motels during the pandemic. Faith leaders argue that allocating money for permanent housing would cost significantly less than continuing the status quo.
“Providing stable housing reduces the downstream costs of poor physical and mental health, substance use disorders, educational support for students whose primary challenge is chaos and trauma, and ultimately, the costs in our criminal justice and corrections systems,” they wrote in the report.
The state’s housing growth rate is expected to drop from 1.66% in the 1980s to about a tenth that (0.18%) this decade, according to the latest Vermont Housing Needs Assessment .
“When a housing market provides new home options for middle- and upper-income buyers and renters, their existing homes, which are likely more affordable than new homes, become available for other home seekers,” the assessment said. “In this way, declines in home building ultimately reduce the availability of affordable housing for lower-income Vermonters.”
Likewise, the state’s growth rate for rental units has declined since 1990.
“What the pandemic has brought to light is the degree to which we have negligently underinvested in our housing system,” faith leaders wrote. “We are now blessed with the opportunity to correct that deficiency.”
The House budget proposal now under consideration by the Senate potentially could add 1,200 housing units, the clergy said. But Scott’s proposal, they estimated, could add 5,000 units.
“Considering what we now know about the true number of people living in shelters and motels,” they wrote, “the House budget falls far short of the need, and Gov. Scott’s desire to create 5,000 units is a very reasonable goal.”
In response, Senate leaders said writing a budget is a balancing act.
“Building housing is important, but it is only part of the story,” Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint, D-Windham County, told the group in a recent online meeting . “If we do not put the right supports in place, people can easily lose it for a variety of reasons.”
As a result, the Legislature also wants to allocate money for rent and mortgage assistance as well as mental health and addiction services for newly housed tenants.
“I absolutely agree with the concern for the homeless, but the Appropriations Committee is a very deliberative process,” said Sen. Alice Nitka, D-Windsor County. “Many things have to be weighed.”
