Rep. Francis “Topper” McFaun, R-Barre Town, listens to testimony before the House Health Care Committee on a bill that would provide health insurance to first responders at the Statehouse in Montpelier on Wednesday, March 22, 2023. Photo by Glenn Russell/VTDiggerUnhappy that the Agency of Human Services has denied your application for housing assistance, Medicaid, food stamps or another matter?In theory, Vermont provides an outlet for your concerns: the Human Services Board, a seven-member body that hears appeals from people who have been denied services by the Vermont Agency of Human Services. The board is supposed to be “a place that individuals or families could go if they have a complaint, and have the ability to tell the Human Services Board all about what happened to them, in the lay person’s language,” Rep. Francis “Topper” McFaun, R-Barre Town, told the House Human Services Committee last month.But in his experience helping petitioners, McFaun said, board hearings are more like “being in a courtroom” — in which at least one family he knew was treated with “disrespect.”McFaun was not the only one to express concerns about petitioners’ treatment before the board. Brenda Siegel, an advocate for homeless Vermonters, told the committee Tuesday that she had seen petitioners to the board be “attacked” and face “harsh” questioning from state lawyers, who generally oppose applicants’ appeals.And Maryellen Griffin, a staff attorney at Vermont Legal Aid, said Wednesday that board hearings are often full of legalistic jargon that can be confusing to people with little knowledge of the justice system. The board’s timelines for hearing processes should also be sped up, she said.Now, lawmakers are considering H.92, a bill to reform the body — something that has not happened in over a decade, according to Rep. Theresa Wood, D-Waterbury, the chair of the committee.A short form bill in the committee would require the board to “implement transparent, user-friendly fair hearing proceedings,” including allowing applicants to speak for a “reasonable time without interruption” and requiring board staff and agency attorneys to “speak in plain language and refrain from use of legalese.”Asked for ways the board could be improved, Mike Donohue, the chair of the Human Services Board, told lawmakers Tuesday that the body — which is made up of volunteers, and employs three hearing officers — could use more resources and potentially better ways to provide feedback on specific cases.But Donohue said that because of the nature of its work, coming before the board is going to be a discouraging experience for many petitioners, some of whom are dealing with substance use disorder or mental illness.“There are many times when we come away from the meetings, and it’s sad,” Donohue said. But, he said, “it’s necessary work.” In the knowThe Legislature’s chief lawyer has deemed Gov. Phil Scott’s move to extend motel voucher eligibility for a narrow segment of unhoused Vermonters an “unconstitutional consolidation of power.” The executive order, signed by Scott late last week, extended motel stays for families with children and certain people with acute medical needs through June 30. It came after the governor blocked an attempt by Democratic legislators to pass a three-month extension for all people sheltered through the state program this winter. A letter penned by Brynn Hare, the office’s director and chief counsel, at the request of Senate President Pro Tem Phil Baruth, D/P-Chittenden Central, did not mince words. The order effectively creates “a new eligibility category” for the emergency housing program, Hare wrote, “prioritizing that new category” over the groups determined most vulnerable by the Legislature last year.“The executive order directly and intentionally conflicts with the actions of the legislature in favor of the Governor’s policy preference,” Hare wrote. “The Governor’s attempt to circumvent the intent of the General Assembly is an unconstitutional encroachment on a core function of the legislature.” Hare characterized Scott’s move as “an overlap of authority so complete as to constitute an unconstitutional consolidation of power.”Read more about the legal opinion here. — Carly BerlinA Turkish graduate student at Tufts University who was detained by federal agents in Massachusetts last week — and whose case has since drawn national attention — was later taken to a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Vermont and held there overnight, lawyers for the federal government said in a court filing Tuesday.ICE officials detained Rümeysa Öztürk at the agency’s field office in St. Albans the night of March 25, court records show. Then, the next morning, officials took the 30-year-old to Patrick Leahy Burlington International Airport, where she was flown to Alexandria, Louisiana.From there, Öztürk was transported to a detention center in Basile, Louisiana, federal prosecutors wrote in the filing in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. As of Wednesday afternoon, Öztürk was being held at the South Louisiana ICE Processing Center in Basile, according to the agency’s online detainee locator.The incident drew criticism Wednesday from Gov. Phil Scott, who said at his weekly Statehouse press conference that “we should be ashamed that we’ve come to this level.” Read more about Öztürk’s case here.— Shaun Robinson & Ethan WeinsteinRead the story on VTDigger here: Final Reading: Lawmakers look to reform Human Services Board. ...read more read less