Last week, much of the attention from ARRM and the legislature was focused on what was happening at the Federal level and their budget reconciliation process.
On Tuesday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget resolution, the first step in budget reconciliation. Included in the resolution is a $880 billion cut target to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the Medicaid program.
ARRM has been working closely with our national trade association, ANCOR, and passing along action alerts and information to members as we hear them. Barbara Merrill, the CEO of ANCOR, shared this last week: “It's important to remember, that this is just the first step in the budget reconciliation process. The House needs to develop and pass its budget based on the resolution that passed this evening, and the House and Senate must also come to an agreement to reconcile the differences between their respective budget resolutions.”
In other words, there is still a long way to go before a final budget is passed. ARRM will continue to advocate on your behalf, and keep you updated on how you can reach out to your representatives in Washington.
At the state level, our legislature continues to focus its attention on hearings and moving bills through the committee process.
On Wednesday, ARRM’s Out of Home Respite bill received a hearing in the House Human Services Finance and Policy Committee. The bill was met with positive reaction from committee members and was laid over for possible inclusion in the Human Services Omnibus bill.
On Friday, all four caucus leaders released a joint statement announcing committee deadlines. The first and second committee deadlines will be at 5:00 pm on April 4th with the third committee deadline scheduled for noon on April 11th.
Looking ahead to this coming week, the updated budget forecast will be released on Thursday, March 6th. This forecast is what the legislature will use to set their committee spending targets and their budget proposals. We anticipate that the Governor will release a revised budget following the release of the updated forecast as well. We are working closely with coalition partners from the Best Life Alliance and anticipate releasing a new action alert in the coming weeks as a response to the forecast and the Governor’s revised budget.
Watch for more information coming out soon, and please reach out with any questions.
--Sara Grafstrom, Senior Director of State and Federal Policy