by Maria Amador
MONTPELIER — On June 11, Governor Phil Scott vetoed a bill designed to overhaul the General Assistance (GA) Emergency Housing Program born of the pandemic-era, calling it a “failed program” in a letter announcing his decision to the House of Representatives. On Monday, hundreds of unhoused Vermonters met the expiration date on an executive order extension on motel stays for families with children and individuals deemed “medically vulnerable.”
Governor Scott’s decision to veto H.91 came after years of legislative debate over the value and efficacy of the GA Emergency Housing Program — known colloquially as the motel voucher program. Administered by the Department for Children and Families (DCF), the program was expanded in 2020 to shelter homeless people in hotels and motels across the Vermont to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Since then, the program has shifted from relying on federal COVID relief money to state funding, prompting concerns of overspending in the Legislature. State officials have also criticized it as straying from the program’s early objectives …
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