The legislature adjourned at midnight Sine Die. The last few hours of the session were chaotic, with the majority rushing to meet the midnight deadline to pass their legislative priorities. In the end, multiple omnibus bills were wrapped into one large omnibus tax bill (HF 5247), including the Human Services appropriations provisions. The bill passed through both the House and Senate before the deadline and will be presented to the Governor for his signature.
ARRM will have a full overview of the provisions that passed in the coming weeks. Today, however, we wanted to make sure members had an update on the fate of ARRM’s legislative priorities.
Policy Provisions
As previously shared, the House and Senate passed a Human Services Omnibus Policy bill that contained three of ARRM’s legislative priorities, the Governor signed the bill into law on May 17th. Here is a rundown of what was included in that bill:
· City Licensing Exemption for 245D CRS and 144g Assisted Living Homes
o Please Note: This provision was effective the day following enactment which means, as of May 18th, cities can no longer require a rental license for homes providing 245D services.
· 245D Updates including changes to the Designated Coordinator and Designated Manager qualifications, allowing 16 and 17-year-olds to pass medications and technical language updates to the initial service planning meeting.
o Effective Date: August 1st, 2024
· Creating a 30-business-day timeline for lead agencies to approve or deny assistive technology requests.
o Effective Date: August 1, 2024
Appropriations Provisions Included in the final bill:
· Creating a time-limited licensing moratorium and exception to CRS capacity to allow individuals transitioning out of an SLF to live in a 5 or 6-person CRS. This exception is available until June 2025.
o Effective Date: August 1, 2024
· Establishing a new Unit-Based Services that will allow for Direct Care to be provided during short-term acute hospital stays.
o Effective January 1, 2025, or upon federal approval, whichever is later
· Establishing Own Home Provider grants, supporting providers and individuals in moving out of a congregate setting and into their own home. The grants were funded at approximately $1.6 million.
Provisions that did not pass this session:
· Out of Home Respite for children in an unlicensed setting.
· Family Foster Care Taskforce and Tiered Rate Delay
· Adding technology costs to the Direct Care compensation thresholds
· Allowing for in-direct time in the IHS tiered services
· Adjusting the SOC code used to establish the Supervisor wage in the DWRS
· Increasing the Competitive Workforce Factor in the DWRS
All of the provisions listed above that did not pass this session carried a cost and did not make it into the final budget target for Human Services of approximately $40 million in this biennium and $14 million in outgoing years.
ARRM staff will be doing a thorough analysis of all the legislation passed during the 2024 session and will get information out to members soon.
Please reach out with any questions.
--Sara Grafstrom, Senior Director of State and Federal Policy