We barely managed to evade another mass unhousing tonight, no thanks whatsoever to the Scott administration and only partial thanks to state lawmakers. They collectively thought it was a good idea to put a tight cap on motel vouchers and put it into effect immediately.

Technically it became effective before “immediately,” because Gov. Phil Scott has yet to sign the bill that imposes the cap. Yep, Our Glorious Leaders, going where no one has gone before, fracturing the time-space continuum. Again, as I wrote previously, I never want to hear anyone in the Statehouse cite a lack of time as an excuse for inaction. Hell, on this bill they had less than zero time and they still made it happen. Administration officials went ahead and implemented a policy that isn’t actually in law. At least not quite yet. Which might, now that I think of it, be technically illegal. But I’m not a lawyer, so.

By this (Friday) morning, the vast majority of motel operators had agreed to accept the $80 per night cap, so the vast majority of voucher clients still have roofs over their heads tonight.

Sure, an unknown but probably small number of households are without shelter. But it could have been thousands, and thankfully it wasn’t.

Who ought to get the credit? Why, Brenda Siegel, of course.

The housing policy advocate and Hardest Workin’ Person in the State pretty much single-handedly dragged the voucher program off the shoals and landed it safely on the beach. As one housing advocate not named “Siegel” told me, “She did everything.”

Here’s the way this thing unfolded as I understand it.

By the middle of this week, two days before Voucher Cap Zero Hour, Scott administration officials were assuring lawmakers that most motel operators had already agreed to accept $80 per night.

That was complete and utter bullshit. As of Wednesday morning, the vast majority of operators were prepared to decline the new rate and drop out of the program. That could have left more than 2,000 Vermonters without shelter effective tonight.

In fact, although Scott’s officials claimed to be going all-out to negotiate deals with operators, they actually did precious little to ensure the voucher program wouldn’t implode. It was almost as if the governor wanted the program to fail. Which kinda makes sense, considering he’s tried to end the thing over and over again for the last two years.

Now, it’s not a great look that Governor Nice Guy would be willing to unhouse large numbers of Vermonters just to prove a point, but it sure seems to be true.

Siegel and her bare-bones organization End Homelessness Vermont were the ones working the phones and meeting with motel operators, with whom Siegel has maintained healthy relationships. Siegel and company were the ones who cajoled operators into accepting lower rates.

They were also the ones maintaining communication with voucher clients, who were getting bupkes from the Department of Children and Families. And they were assisting clients through bureaucratic thickets to ensure that as many as possible didn’t have to go midwinter camping with absolutely no notice.

Legislative leaders also pitched in, making calls and helping Siegel pull off this high-wire act. Having committed themselves to the March 1 cap, they did their part to make sure it wasn’t a disaster.

Lawmakers deserve credit for pitching in. I still think they deserve criticism for thinking that the March 1 cap was a good idea. It wasn’t. Just because they managed to stick the landing doesn’t mean their leap of faith was well taken. This week was still a living nightmare for voucher clients, who had no idea where they were going to stay or if they would have shelter at all after the end of February.

There was no good reason to put them through that. It was an act of casual cruelty — the kind of thing we too often do to those in need because somewhere in a dark corner of our souls we believe they are unworthy of help. Just ask Sen. Bobby Starr.

No one should be breathing easily just yet. This deal could start to come apart as soon as the middle of March. Some motel operators signed on to the lower rates, but only promised to participate for two to four weeks. I hope Siegel gets some rest this weekend, because it sounds like she’ll be fighting the next battle starting no later than Monday. We owe her a debt of gratitude. Hell, we ought to hire her and her organization to do the work the Scott administration appears unwilling to do.