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VT LEG #379274 v.1
H.233 1
Introduced by Representatives Nugent of South Burlington, Brown of 2
Richmond, Carris-Duncan of Whitingham, Cina of Burlington, 3
Cole of Hartford, Hooper of Burlington, Krasnow of South 4
Burlington, Lalley of Shelburne, Logan of Burlington, McGill 5
of Bridport, Minier of South Burlington, Mrowicki of Putney, 6
Olson of Starksboro, Pouech of Hinesburg, Priestley of 7
Bradford, Rachelson of Burlington, Torre of Moretown, and 8
Waszazak of Barre City 9
Referred to Committee on 10
Date: 11
Subject: Executive; grants; funding; prompt execution and payment 12
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to require the 13
Secretary of Administration to update Administrative Bulletin 5 to include a 14
process for nonprofits to use an indirect rate higher than the de minimis rate 15
and to require a State agency issuing a grant to promptly execute the grant and 16
to promptly pay expenses on the grant submitted by an organization. 17
An act relating to requirements for State-funded grants 18 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.233
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VT LEG #379274 v.1
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 1
Sec. 1. GRANT APPLICATIONS AND AGREEMENT S; INDIRECT 2
RATES FOR NONPROFITS; BULLETIN 5 3
On or before July 1, 2025, the Secretary of Administration shall include in 4
Administrative Bulletin 5, Policy for Grant Issuance and Monitoring, a 5
uniform formula and approval process for use in all State-funded grants for 6
nonprofit corporations to use an indirect rate higher than the standard de 7
minimis rate, pursuant to 2 C.F.R. § 200.332(b)(4). 8
Sec. 2. PROMPT EXECUTION OF GRANT AGREEMENTS AND 9
PROMPT PAYMENT OF GRANT FUNDS ; REPORTING; 10
BULLETIN UPDATE 11
(a) Execution of grant agreements. 12
(1) A State agency shall execute a State-funded grant agreement with an 13
organization not later than 30 days after: 14
(A) funds are appropriated in the budget to the agency for the 15
purposes of a grant agreement between the agency and organization; or 16
(B) notice, either written or verbal, of an award of a State-funded 17
grant is provided by the granting agency to the organization. 18
(2) If a granting agency is unable to execute a State-funded grant 19
agreement pursuant to the terms set forth in subdivision (1) of this subsection, 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.233
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the granting agency shall submit in writing an explanation to the Agency of 1
Administration as to why it was unable to meet its obligation. 2
(b) Prompt payment. 3
(1) For all executed State-funded grant agreements, the granting agency 4
shall pay the grantee within 30 days after receipt of a valid written request for 5
payment from the grantee. A written request for payment from the grantee is 6
valid if it meets the requirements in the executed grant agreement between the 7
granting agency and grantee. 8
(2) If a granting agency is unable to promptly pay the grantee of a State-9
funded grant agreement pursuant to the terms set forth in subdivision (1) of this 10
subsection, the granting agency shall submit in writing an explanation to the 11
Agency of Administration as to why it was unable to meet its obligation. 12
(c) Reporting. The Agency of Administration shall: 13
(1) create an online form on its website where grantees awarded State-14
funded grants are able to provide notice that a granting agency did not timely: 15
(A) execute a State-funded grant agreement pursuant to subdivision 16
(a)(1) of this section; or 17
(B) pay the grantee upon receiving a valid written request for 18
payment pursuant to subdivision (b)(1) of this section; and 19 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.233
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(2) create a publicly accessible database on its website that displays all 1
nonconfidential information submitted by grantees pursuant to subdivision (1) 2
of this subsection. 3
(d) Update bulletin. On or before July 1, 2025, the Secretary of 4
Administration shall update Administrative Bulletin 5, Policy for Grant 5
Issuance and Monitoring, with the language provided in this section. 6
Sec. 3. WORKING GROUP ON STATE GRANT PROCESSES 7
(a) Creation. There is created the Working Group on State Grant Processes 8
for the purpose of assessing the State’s current grant awarding procedures. 9
(b) Membership. The Working Group shall be composed of the following 10
members: 11
(1) the Secretary of Administration or designee; 12
(2) one representative of Common Good Vermont, selected by the 13
Director of Common Good Vermont; 14
(3) two representatives, each of different nonprofit organizations, 15
selected by the Director of Common Good Vermont, who have received a 16
State-funded grant within 12 months of July 1, 2025; 17
(4) one member of the Vermont House of Representatives, appointed by 18
the Speaker of the House; 19
(5) one member of the Vermont Senate, appointed by the Senate 20
Committee on Committees; and 21 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.233
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(6) one representative of the Department of Finance and Management, 1
appointed by the Governor. 2
(c) Meetings. 3
(1) The Secretary of Administration or designee shall call the first 4
meeting of the Working Group to occur on or before September 1, 2025. 5
(2) The Working Group shall select a chair from among its members at 6
the first meeting. 7
(3) A majority of the membership shall constitute a quorum. 8
(4) The Working Group shall meet not fewer than eight times. 9
(5) The Chair may establish subcommittees to perform the work set 10
forth in this section. 11
(d) Powers and duties. The Working Group shall: 12
(1) assess the State’s current grant and contracting funding levels and 13
determine whether the State should review cost of living or other inflationary 14
adjustments on a regular basis; 15
(2) assess, due to delayed reimbursement from granting agencies, how 16
the need to obtain bridge loans and lines of credit have impacted nonprofits 17
and their ability to provide services to the State; 18
(3) assess the grant and contracting processes of the Agency of Human 19
Services to identify best practices and areas needing improvement; 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.233
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(4) determine how to increase the number of State-funded grants that do 1
not require reimbursement; 2
(5) recommend solutions to improve reimbursement practices and 3
processes of State-funded grants; 4
(6) identify system improvements that would simplify the State-funded 5
grant application and reporting processes; 6
(7) examine ways to ensure consistency between State and federal 7
indirect rates, including: 8
(A) reviewing the process for nonprofit organizations to qualify for 9
an indirect rate above the standard rate; and 10
(B) honoring federal indirect rates; 11
(8) analyze the impact of State-funded grants being executed more than 12
30 days after a notice of award is issued; 13
(9) analyze the impact of agencies not paying grantees within 30 days 14
after receiving a written request for payment on a grant; and 15
(10) consider related issues that arise during the course of the Working 16
Group’s duties as set forth in this section. 17
(e) Assistance. The Working Group shall have the administrative and 18
technical assistance of the Joint Fiscal Office and the administrative, legal, and 19
technical assistance of the Agency of Administration. 20 BILL AS INTRODUCED H.233
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(f) Reporting. The Working Group shall submit a written report to the 1
House Committee on Government Operations and Military Affairs and the 2
Senate Committee on Government Operations with its recommendations based 3
on the analysis conducted pursuant to this section on or before September 1, 4
2026. 5
(g) Compensation and reimbursement. 6
(1) For attendance at meetings during adjournment of the General 7
Assembly, a legislative member of the Working Group serving in the 8
member’s capacity as a legislator shall be entitled to per diem compensation 9
and reimbursement of expenses pursuant to 2 V.S.A. § 23 for not more than 10
eight meetings. 11
(2) Other members of the Working Group shall be entitled to per diem 12
compensation and reimbursement of expenses as permitted under 32 V.S.A. 13
§ 1010 for not more than eight meetings. 14
(3) Payments to members of the Working Group authorized under this 15
subsection shall be made from monies appropriated to the General Assembly. 16
(h) Expiration. The Working Group shall cease to exist on December 31, 17
2026. 18
Sec. 4. EFFECTIVE DATE 19
This act shall take effect on July 1, 2025. 20