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| From Lori Ann Harris, contract lobbyist House Appropriations Committee Approves Budget June 14, 2006 After five hours of deliberations, the House Appropriations Committee approved an $18.9 billion budget on Tuesday afternoon. Lawmakers considered approximately 40 amendments to the budget. The Full House will take the first of two required floor votes on Wednesday and Thursday. Good News on Quality Improvement Rep. Wright and Rep. Earle worked hard to come up with a compromise to keep the Quality Improvement Program for Adult Care Homes alive. If we did not get a mention in the House Budget, the issue would have been dead for the session. The special provision reads as follows: (Also, find the special provision attached to this email.) Moves to amend the bill on page 58, line 44, by inserting on the line the following: “Long Term Care Ombudsman and the NC Social Services Consortium to Cooperate on Quality Improvement Program Implementation SECTION 10.1A Of the positions funded in this act for the Long Term Care Ombudsman Program, a sufficient number shall be allocated to test the Quality Improvement Program in two pilot counties prior to the Quality Improvement Program's implementation statewide. The Long Term Care Ombudsman Program shall work with the NC Social Services Consortium to implement the requirements of this section.” It is our intention to try to identify separate dollars for QIPACH. As requested in the bill introduced by Rep. Wright and Sen. Malone, we need $160,000 to continue the program development that is already underway. The bill also requests $260,000 to implement QI in four pilot counties. Suzanne Merrell from the Division of Aging has indicated that the implementation could not begin before January 1, 2007. Therefore, we could get by with half a year's funding of $130,000 for the four county pilot. PLEASE CALL REP. THOMAS WRIGHT AND REP. BEVERLY EARLE AND THANK THEM FOR THEIR ASSISTANCE IN KEEPING THE QIPACH ISSUE ON THE TABLE. ASK THEM FOR THEIR CONTINUED SUPPORT IN HELPING TO GET $290,000 TO SUPPORT QI! House lawmakers are not feeling very sympathetic regarding the TANF and MOE special provision and the Child Care Match special provision, since counties are slated to receive Medicaid relief. We will have to work the Senate members to remove these special provisions in conference committee.
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