Conference committee debates public health funding, IT needs and behavioral health project costs in HB1012

The conference committee on House Bill 1012 on Thursday reviewed differences between the House and Senate public health and human services budgets, discussing reductions tied to lost federal COVID funding, adjustments to grants and contracts, and several one‑time funding requests.

The discussion centered on a roughly $60 million loss of federal COVID‑related funding and how that shortfall affects line items across the bill. "The department had lost around $60,000,000 of COVID funding, between when the house heard our bill in the senate," Donna Ockland, chief financial officer for the Department of Health and Human Services, told the committee, adding that some IT projects supporting immunizations were funded by that money and need to be finished.

The committee examined multiple specific differences. The Senate reduced a domestic‑violence prevention line by $1,700,000 while the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCR) budget contains a $7,000,000 general‑fund addition intended to replace lost federal funds. Committee members asked staff to clarify whether the DOCR amount was budget…