ARRM's Daily Dispatch

Licensing Moratorium Information

At this point, due to the veto of the HHS Omnibus bill, the licensing moratorium exception for programs that should have been licensed and were operating prior to May 1, 2017 will expire on June 30, 2018.

Providers who feel they may need to apply for a foster care or community residential setting (CRS) license under 245D should do the following:

If you are not sure if your program meets the criteria

• Contact the DHS licensing division at this number: 651-431-6624
• When speaking to the person, explain your situation as clearly as possible. You may receive an answer on the spot or you may be told that further research needs to be done on your specific situation.
• If further time is needed you should expect to hear back in 3 business days.
• Once you receive your answer you should do one of three things:
  • Send an email message to DHS to confirm the answer you have received at [email protected] or,
  • Submit an application for a license to your county, or
  • Submit a request to DHS for reconsideration of their decision

Steps for application if your program meets the criteria:

• There will be an up to $500.00 fee for each license application, this is not refundable should you later decide not to continue with the process or to turn down the settings license
• Apply for the license even if all people currently being served do not meet the exception for the license moratorium - ask for the license capacity that you need. You may be approved for less than requested. We are working on how to address the issue of needing a license for more than allowed under the moratorium exception language.
• Applications must be submitted to the County by June 30, 2018. Counties have 120 days to process.
• If it is found that a program is operating without a settings license and it is determined that the setting should have one you will be open for corrective action which may include legal action against the provider.

Legislature Adjourns: Final passage of Omnibus bill uncertain

Both the House and the Senate adjourned Sine Die a little before midnight last night, meaning that they have adjourned for the last time this biennium and will not be back in session until Tuesday, January 8^th, 2019.

On Saturday, both the House and Senate passed the final Conference Committee report of the Supplemental Omnibus Finance bill. Some key components of the bill include:

• Fully funding the 7% cut until December 31^st, 2018
• Beginning January 1^st, 2019 implementing a Competitive Workforce Factor at 8.35%, which would equate to full funding of the 7%.
• Beginning July 1^st, 2019 funding the Competitive Workforce Factor at 4.55%, which would equate to an approximate 3.23% reduction in provider rates
• Beginning July 1^st, 2022 funding the Competitive Workforce Factor at 5.55%
• Adjusting the automatic inflationary factor from occurring every five years to every two years
• Removing the Regional Variance Factor
• Establishing new reporting requirements for providers that would focus on labor market factors

In addition to the language on the 7% cut, the Omnibus Supplemental bill also includes ARRM’s policy provisions that we have been trying to adopt this session. These provisions include:

• Extending the Licensing Moratorium Exception for un-licensed settings by one year
• Mandating the discussion of technology at every SA planning meeting
• Extending the sunset for adding a fifth bed to a program until 2021
• Changing the requirements for Behavior Support Professionals

Unfortunately, while the Governor has not indicated any issues with these provisions, there are other items within the Omnibus bill that he has expressed concern or opposition to. Initial indication is that the Governor will veto the entire bill which would include any funding to stop the 7% cut and our policy provisions.

ARRM has already been in communication with other Best Life Alliance coalition members about potential outreach to the Governor’s office. Please watch for communication on any potential actions we may need you take.

--Sara Grafstrom, Director of Member Advocacy and Government Relations

Weekly Legislative Update: One Week Remaining

With one week remaining of the 2018 legislative session there have not been a lot of new developments since last week’s legislative update.

As a reminder, the Conference Committee for the Omnibus Finance Bill has begun meeting and as of today, Monday, May 14^th, the committee has begun adopting final bill language. At the time of this writing the final language for the Health and Human Service portion of the bill has not been released.

Within the Omnibus bill, ARRM is actively monitoring and lobbying legislators to ensure that all of the provisions from our policy bill are included and that the legislature adopts the House position on the 7% cut which fully funds the cut immediately and into future years.

We anticipate that the Health and Human Service articles will be released within the next day and subsequently adopted into the final bill.

Looking ahead, the legislature must adjourn by midnight of Monday, May 21^st. Please continue to watch for updates from ARRM and ways you can take action.

--Sara Grafstrom, Director of Advocacy and Community Relations

Weekly Legislative Update: Two Weeks Remaining

The 2018 Legislative Session is constitutionally mandated to adjourn by midnight, Monday, May 21^st. This leaves just over two weeks for the Legislature and Governor to come to a final agreement on everything from additional funding, taxes, bonding and more, including proposals to stop the 7% cut to DWRS rates. As we move closer to that date, we anticipate that Conference Committees will begin meeting in earnest to hash out differences in bills passed by each body.

House passes HHS Omnibus - Fully Funds the 7% Cut

The House passed its version of the Health and Human Service Omnibus bill last Tuesday and fully funded the 7% cut. The House also includes funding to cover the state and federal dollars of the 7% until federal approval can be obtained from CMS and changes the inflationary adjustment from every 5 years to every 2 years. This language is what was included in the Best Life Alliance legislation and is what ARRM and other coalition member’s support going into Conference Committee.

ARRM’s Policy Bill Passes off the Senate Floor

On Wednesday, ARRM’s Policy Bill was officially passed off the Senate floor with a vote of 65-0. As we previously reported, the bill was amended in Committee with additional language and does not match the version of the bill moving through the House. We are hoping the House will take up their language next week and we will be able to work out the differences between the two bills through a Conference Committee prior to the end of session.

To ensure the important provisions within our bill continue to move forward, we were able to successfully add the language into both the Senate Finance Omnibus bill and the House Health and Human Service Omnibus bill.

Keep Watching your Email for Future Actions

As the end of session nears, please remain vigilant of any future actions we need members to take in order to support our efforts to Stop the Cut! Thank you for all you have done to get us this far, we will continue to keep you posted as things move forward.

--Sara Grafstrom, Director of Member Advocacy and Government Relations

Weekly Legislative Update: Senate Passes Omnibus Bill, House to Act Today

With just three weeks remaining of the 2018 Legislative Session the pace at the Capitol is starting to pick up.

Last Thursday, the Senate passed their full Omnibus Finance bill off the Senate floor. This bill as passed will fully fund and stop the 7% cut for one year-- but over time will result in a 5% cut for Home and Community-Based Services.

The House will debate their Health and Human Service Omnibus bill today (Tuesday, May 1^st). The House bill fully funds and stops the 7% cut immediately, as well as fully funds the 7% cut into the future.

Following the passage of all Omnibus bills in the House, a Conference Committee will be established to begin working out policy and funding differences between the House and Senate. As we move into that Conference Committee, ARRM’s position is to fully support the House language that stops the 7% cut.

Additionally last week, both the House and Senate DFL Caucuses sent letters to Governor Dayton, urging him to prioritize stopping the 7% cut as he enters negotiations with the House and Senate majorities. A total of 31 of the 33 DFL Senators and 48 of the 57 DFL House members signed on to the letter in support of stopping the 7% cut.

Please continue to watch and respond to upcoming Action Alerts in the next few days. Your immediate action will be critical during these final few weeks of the legislative session.

--Sara Grafstrom, Director of Member Advocacy and Government Relations

Weekly Legislative Update: Health and Human Service Omnibus Bills Released

This past week both the House and Senate released their Health and Human Service Omnibus Bills; below is an update on the status of ARRM’s key policy priorities.

7% Cut Position in the House and Senate

• The House Health and Human Service Finance Omnibus bill fully funds the 7% cut, as well as provides additional money to ensure that providers are held harmless from a cut until CMS approves the legislative change.
• The Senate Human Services Reform and Finance Omnibus bill delays the cut by one year. The 7% is fully funded until July 1^st, 2019 at that time, providers would receive a 2.3% cut and beginning July 1^st, 2020 providers will receive an additional cut of 3.1% for a total cut of 5.4%.

Eken/Halverson Letter

DFL members Sen. Kent Eken and Rep. Laurie Halverson have authored a letter to Governor Dayton asking him to prioritize funding the 7% cut in his final budget negotiations with the House and Senate. This letter will be circulated within the House and Senate DFL Caucus for additional legislator signatures. Please watch for an Action Alert next Monday, asking you to contact your DFL legislators and ask them to sign on to the Halverson/Eken letter.

ARRM Policy Bill Provisions

Currently, ARRM’s policy bill is on both the House and Senate floor waiting for final passage. In an effort to ensure that the important provisions contained within our legislation do not get held up, our bill has been included in both the House and Senate Omnibus bills.

Next Steps

ARRM, in conjunction with the Best Life Alliance will be sending out an Action Alert early next week with a multi-pronged approach to reach out to your legislators, depending on the political party and the body that they serve in. Please watch for that alert and take immediate action.

Next week we anticipate bills moving through the Finance Committee in the Senate and the Ways and Means Committee in the House. Following passage on the House and Senate floors, Conference Committees will be set up to begin working out the difference between the two bills. ARRM will keep members updated as things continue to move through the process as we work through the final five weeks of session.

Weekly Legislative Update: House Budget Targets Released, Funds 7%

The House Health and Human Service Finance Committee heard testimony on the Best Life Alliance’s legislation to stop the 7% cut this last Tuesday. Chair of the Best Life Alliance, Judy Mader, provided compelling testimony as to the need to STOP THE CUT this legislative session. The bill was laid over for possible inclusion in the House Health and Human Service Omnibus bill, which we anticipate being released this week.

Additionally, last Thursday the House released their budget targets. Budget targets are what each committee uses when putting together their omnibus bills. Historically, targets for Health and Human Services have been $0 or even a cut, this year however the budget target is $10 million, specifically highlighting using those dollars to fix the potential 7% cut.

It is important to mention that when presenting the budget targets, Rep. Jim Knoblach, chair of the House Ways and Means Committee made note that the reason the 7% fix is included in their target is because of the “high volume of contacts legislators are receiving”—your actions are making a difference!

Looking ahead to this week, both the House and Senate will be releasing their omnibus spending bills. As soon as ARRM has the opportunity to review the bills we will provide and update to members. Following the release of those bills, please watch for ways that you can support ARRM and the Best Life Alliance in ensuring that the 7% fix is made a priority in the final 5 weeks of session.

Please contact me with any questions.

--Sara Grafstrom, Director of Government Relations and Member Advocacy

Legislative Update: Busy Couple Weeks Ahead!

7% Cut Update

The Best Life Alliance legislation to address the 7% cut continues to move through the legislative process. This week, the bill received a formal fiscal note, estimating that the total cost to re-instate the 7% cut will be about $1.9 million for the remainder of this biennium and $53 million in the next biennium. These are significant figures in a non-budget year which further emphasizes the need for strong grassroots pressure to make this a legislative priority.

Key Hearing Next Week

Tuesday, April 10^th, the Best Life Alliance legislation will be heard in the House Health and Human Service Finance Committee. Advocates are encouraged to attend to show their support to STOP THE CUT. Please note, the agenda is very lengthy and there is no guarantee of when exactly the Best Life Alliance Legislation will be heard. You can find more information here.

Final Deadline Fast Approaching

The final committee deadline is just two weeks away on Friday, April 20^th. This means that all bills must be passed out of finance committees. We anticipate seeing omnibus bills released the week of April 16^th and will keep you posted on our position within those bills as soon as we are aware.

Keep up the Good Work

We are hearing from legislators that they are getting a lot of contacts about the 7% cut. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK! Now is not the time to let up the pressure. Look for more information from the Best Life Alliance and ARRM in the coming weeks about messaging to your legislators and how you can continue making a difference in Stopping the Cut.

Please contact me with any questions.

--Sara Grafstrom, Director of Member Advocacy and Government Relations

Weekly Legislative Update for the Week of March 19th

Best Life Alliance Responds to Governor’s Supplemental Budget

Following the release of the Governor’s Supplemental Budget last Friday, the Best Life Alliance delivered this letter to Governor Dayton and leadership in the House and Senate, expressing frustration over not being included in the budget proposal. Please watch for an action alert early next week with directions on sharing this letter with your local legislators.

First Committee Deadline Comes and Goes

This last Thursday, March 22^nd marked the first committee deadline in the House and Senate. This means that if a bill has not been heard in either the House or Senate the bill is now “dead” and can no longer move forward.

The second committee deadline is next Thursday, March 29^th; this is the deadline for which bills need to be heard in the body they had not previously been heard in. For example, if a bill was heard in the House Health and Human Service Policy Committee by the first committee deadline, it now needs to be heard in the Senate Human Services Reform, Finance and Policy committee by the second committee deadline.

ARRM’s Policy bill has met both the first and second committee deadline, as it has already been heard in both the House and Senate, this is the same for the Best Life Alliance legislation. ARRM’s unfunded mandate bill did not meet the first committee deadline and will not be moving forward this legislative session. ARRM is committed to continuing to work on this issue during the next biennium.

Upcoming Legislative Break- Watch for Events in your District

The legislature will meet next week and following the second committee deadline will be on break the week of April 2^nd-6^th. Historically, legislators have used this week long break as an opportunity to host town hall forums in their district. ARRM tracks all of these events on our town hall forum calendar and will send out individual notices if an event is coming to an area your organization provides services in.

Stop the Cut Resource

ARRM shared earlier this week that we have developed a new “Stop The Cut” resource on our website. Please utilize this site for up-to-date resources on the 7% cut as well as an Action Alert that you can use when communicating with your legislators.

Questions

As always, please contact me with any questions at [email protected]

--Sara Grafstrom, Director of Member Advocacy and Government Relations

Weekly Legislative Update: Governor's Budget Released, STOP THE CUT!

Governor’s Supplemental Budget

The Governor’s Supplemental Budget was released today and did not include funding to recapture the 7% rate cut. ARRM has issued a press release in response and will be following up with members with a broad call to action early next week.

Best Life Alliance Legislation/ 7% Cut

The Best Life Alliance legislation was amended in both the Senate and the House to now include a “workforce competitiveness” factor. It is through this mechanism that we hope to recapture the 7% rate cut. The bill was formally heard in the Senate Human Services Reform Finance and Policy Committee during the week of March 5^th and was heard in the House Health and Human Service Policy Committee on March 13^th. Within the House, the bill was referred to the House Health and Human Service Finance Committee where a formal fiscal note has been requested.

In addition to the legislative hearings, lobby team members from the Best Life Alliance have had many conversations with legislative leaders over the last couple weeks, educating them on the rate cut and the Best Life Alliance Solution and a formal letter was sent to all Health and Human Service Committee members and leadership from the Best Life Alliance.

ARRM has also sent out two separate Action Alerts to members. If you have not responded to the Action Alert please do so immediately.

ARRM’s Policy Bill

ARRM’s Policy Bill was heard in the House Health and Human Service Reform committee on Thursday, March 15^th. Similar to the hearing in the Senate, the bill was successfully amended to lengthen the moratorium exception for un-licensed settings, address what happens when providers have an open bed at the time of licensing and make a couple technical changes. The bill was passed out of committee with unanimous support and referred to the General Register, meaning the next stop will be the House floor for final passage.

ARRM’s Unfunded Mandate Bill

Our bill to address provider unfunded mandates was formally introduced in the Senate (SF 3176). You can review the bill here.

Day at the Capitol

Finally, this last week saw over 1,000 people come together for ARRM’s 2018 Day at the Capitol. All together we met with over 170 legislators, some meetings with groups over 50! Thank you to everyone who attended, but remember, your advocacy can not end after you left the Capitol grounds. If you met with your legislator on Tuesday, please follow up with them with the urgent message of “STOP THE CUT!”

--Sara Grafstrom, Director of Member Advocacy and Government Relations