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Senate amendment trims early childhood ask, shifts behavioral health and funds Medicaid trust increases
Summary
Senate Finance reduced an early-childhood funding request and instead prioritized specific childcare assistance and behavioral-health line items; presenters also described additions to Medicaid and behavioral-health trust funding and an appropriation to cover an employer health-share change.
Members asked how the Senate amendment affected early-childhood funding and related trust funds.
Presenters said the executive requested a $500,000,000 increase for early-childhood in the original ask; the Senate amendment adjusted that request and amended the amount directed to ECECD for child-care assistance to about $96,500,000, which presenters said is roughly $30,000,000 higher than the House appropriation for that purpose. A presenter said, “the senate finance committee, amended the amount of money going to ECECD to meet the execs request for childcare assistance, which is 96,500,000.0. That's up almost 30,000,000 from HAFC.”
On behavioral health and related trust funds, presenters said the Senate added items for behavioral-health programs and suicide prevention. Committee discussion also covered trust funds: presenters said the Senate added $100,000,000 to the Medicaid trust fund to shore up Medicaid liabilities and discussed the behavioral-health trust fund as an emerging priority. In addition, a presenter said roughly $78,000,000 is appropriated in section 8 to pay premium increases and employer-share changes related to employer-employee health-cost shifts; a presenter described that as funding to implement a move to an 80% employer share for health coverage.
Presenters noted fund triggers and guardrails in the amendment language: for example, language tying early-childhood trust triggers to certain dates was described, and staff referred members to back-of-the-bill materials for the exact trigger language. Members were told final line-item details and precise language are available in the published spreadsheets.
Ending: Presenters recommended members consult the budget office’s emailed amendment list and the Senate Finance back-of-the-bill database to verify exact appropriation amounts and funding triggers.
