Next week the House Health Care and Human Services Policy and Oversight Committee will be hearing disability issues, including ARRM’s reform/transformation report. We’ll also testify on waiting list legislation. Although that bill isn’t expected to go far this year due to the deficit, we’ll use it as an opportunity to educate committee members on the economic impact of disability services in all Minnesota counties.
To see the reform/transformation plan, go to the members-only section of our website (the user name is arrm; the password is reforms): http://www.arrm.org/news/news/011309Reform.html
To see our updated economic impact report, click here: http://www.arrm.org/pdfs/EI2007.pdf
The buzz at the capitol this week centers around “mandates” and what the state can do to reduce mandates that don’t add value and therefore squander more precious than ever recourses. ARRM anticipated this last summer so we should be well positioned to make our case in being part of the solution and getting actual reforms enacted.
Other quickies:
We think some legislators don’t really understand the enormity of the fiscal crisis before them. And the $4.8 billion problem will only get worse. Revenues to the state are down since the December forecast and other benchmarks, like job losses, show a continued decline. Add inflation in and then don’t be surprised to see a deficit of around $6 billion.
With a state biennial budget of $34.6 billion, that $6 billion is huge – about 17%, although some legislators are telling ARRM to expect overall cuts of around 20%. While the main problem is decreases in revenue (primarily taxes) we can’t even come close to taxing our way out of this mess. For example, if we raised income taxes on the wealthiest to what the highest income tax state imposes (California), we would bring in only $600 million.
Legislators, who don’t yet have a full perspective on the magnitude of the crisis, will have their eyes opened Tuesday when Gov. Tim Pawlenty releases his budget.
Rep. Tom Huntley told a group of health and human services advocates, including ARRM, that he expects the federal stimulus bill to increase the federal share of Medicaid money from 50% to 54%. Given the state deficit and constitutional requirement that Minnesota balance its budget, we doubt the state can take advantage of all that new money – probably to last for only two years
The Legislative Auditor releases his PCA report this morning. Expect new limits from the legislature as a result of the report.