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| From Lori Ann Harris, Contract Lobbyist for Social Services Consortium. HOUSE BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS – June 8, 2006 The House HHS Committee met Thursday afternoon and approved a budget. The House Appropriations Committee is scheduled to meet on Tuesday, June 13 and the required floor votes by the Full House are expected to take place next Wednesday and Thursday.
Budget leaders from the House and Senate will begin negotiating the differences in the House and Senate budget soon after the House approves its budget.
The full HHS Money Report is attached to this email. The DHHS Block Grants section is also attached in two parts. HHS Block Grant Part 1. HHS Block Grant Part 2. ________________________________________________________________________ COUNTY MEDICAID RELIEF Recurring general fund dollars and non-recurring funding has been included here. The Senate did not include any money for this item. CHILD CARE SUBSIDIES See #28 for recurring general fund dollars for child care subsidies. This is less than the Gov's $20m recommendation and the Senate's $20 m recommendation and market rate increases. The TANF Block Grant funds in the amount of $53 million is one-time only funding and would remove 4,054 children from the waiting list. These same children would lose the subsidy on June 30, 2007 . The House did not include any market rate increases for providers. The House did not include county relief for foster care placements with unlicensed relatives. There was an appropriations request of $4.5 million to help counties defray these costs. DHHS Block Grants TANF Block Grants .07 Child Welfare Collaborative 1,000,000 14. Subsidized Child Care Program 53,237,268 18. Office of the Secretary/DIRM – NC FAST Implementation 1,800,000 This special provision in the TANF Block Grant will have a negative effect on Counties! Quality Improvement for Adult Care Homes There was a request of $420,000 to continue the development of the quality improvement program and to provide funds for 4 pilot projects. There were no funds appropriated for this item. Rep. Wright has directed staff to try to find a way for LTC ombudsmen to assist in this effort. I will be talking with the Division of Aging to explore this possibility. There is still a lot in the budget that I will continue to go through. I'll keep you informed of other items of interest.
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