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Appropriations subcommittee considers restoring DHHS 'underfund' and creating salary block grant flexibility for clinics and CCBHCs
Summary
The subcommittee debated restoring part of the House’s $30 million underfund reduction to the Human Services salary pool and packaging funds to give DHHS flexibility to recruit staff and stand up Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs); staff provided figures for the amounts requested and proposed adjustments to the underfund.
Budget staff and senators discussed how to treat the Human Services salary 'underfund' and whether to provide a block‑grant style flexibility that would let the Department of Health and Human Services recruit for hard‑to‑fill positions and support new Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinics (CCBHCs).
Donna Auckland, representing DHHS, presented payroll-based calculations for the upcoming biennium. She said keeping flexibility in a pooled salary grant would help the department recruit for open positions such as a full‑time commissioner and a forensic examiner and allow the department to support roll‑out of CCBHCs without immediate hiring requirements.
Auckland said a package that included CCBHCs and other flexibility would require roughly $18.9 million in general fund and $4.7 million in other funds. Committee staff and senators discussed an alternative approach that would reduce the general‑fund underfund from $30 million (the House reduction) to about $11,036,271 in the Senate draft; staff said that change would also restore other‑fund authority tied to federal match and revenue projections.
"If you gave us the flexibility by packaging the CCBHCs with the additional 6 or 7,000,000 added into the underfund...we would have a total senate requested salaries," Auckland said, urging the committee to consider the department's recruitment and turnover challenges.
Members asked staff to present the numbers on the long sheet so senators could see how changes to the underfund affect the overall long‑sheet totals and federal match. Keith (committee staff) said he would prepare the long‑sheet revisions showing a reduced underfund and the impact of the other‑fund revenue projections. Several senators said they preferred to set the underfund at a level that preserves accountability while allowing the agency the flexibility to operate CCBHCs and recruit for key positions.
Ending: Committee directed staff to change the long sheet to reflect a reduced underfund (from $30 million to roughly $11,036,271 general fund) and to show the salary block grant as revised; staff will circulate updated long sheets for further consideration.
