Last week, the Senate Human Services Committee focused on the Governor's budget recommendations. On Monday, the Department presented and answered committee members' questions about the proposal, and on Wednesday, members of the community, including ARRM staff, provided testimony on the budget proposal. The overall sentiment from committee members was concern over the proposed cuts to services that support people with disabilities and older adults and a desire to find alternative approaches to balancing the state’s budget.
The Department continued to present various reports to the House Human Services Committee, including a report on the PACE program and a report from the Acute Care Transition Advisory task force. On Thursday, the committee heard its first bill, HF 1, which would establish a new Office of Inspector General. This is part of the GOP’s effort to address the fraud that has been uncovered in certain state-funded programs.
Looking ahead to this coming week, ARRM’s Out of Home Respite legislation is scheduled to be heard in the House Human Services Committee on Wednesday morning.
As February ends and we get into March, we anticipate the updated state economic forecast to be released on March 6th. Please watch for information from ARRM on an action alert related to the forecast and the legislature’s work on developing their own budget proposal.
Please reach out with any questions.
--Sara Grafstrom, Senior Director of State and Federal Policy