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Senate panel flags roughly $50M shortfall in DHHS budget, agrees to remove 95 zero-funded positions
Summary
Members of the Senate Appropriations — Human Resources Division reviewed Department of Health and Human Services budget materials, discussed underfunding across salaries, operations and grants (roughly $50–67 million by department estimates), and signaled agreement to remove 95 positions that remain in the system but are zero-funded.
The Senate Appropriations — Human Resources Division on March 5 reviewed Department of Health and Human Services budget documents and the department's estimate that the agency's base budget remains underfunded by tens of millions of dollars.
Donna Auckland, the department's chief financial officer, told the committee, “Last biennium, we were under funded 13,900,000.0 in operations and 19 and a half million in our salaries.” She said the governor's executive budget had restored roughly half of that amount and that the House further adjusted the agency's base, leaving an operational underfund estimate the department described as about $16.95 million and a separate $30 million underfund in the salary line. Auckland and committee members also cited a roughly $20 million adjustment in grant utilization projections. Taken together, committee discussion put the department's remaining underfund at "$50.66, 67,000,000 roughly," according to an exchange in the hearing.
The panel debated how to handle the shortfall across lines. Senator Davison and others said the committee could consider reducing grant and operating projections rather than placing the full burden on salaries. Auckland said the department can shift money between categories under its transfer authority: “We have that transfer authority. So if you put it all in grants and we're seeing that, okay, I need more money in grants and I'm rolling up money in operating, I can just do budget adjustment, move it, and I would report it to you.”
Committee members also raised concerns about the personnel and morale consequences of identifying salary underfunding. Auckland told the panel that operating underfund language directed at salaries can create “anxiety, especially people who are in positions that feel like their jobs might be at stake when they're not.” She described the process for budget adjustments as involving executive directors, the commissioner and, when necessary, the governor's office or the Office of Management and Budget.
A second substantive item discussed was a set of 95 positions the department still shows in its database but which are zero-funded. A committee member proposed eliminating the 95 positions from the bill. After brief discussion, one senator said, “Well, I think we should take them out, mister chair. That would be my recommendation unless anybody's against it,” and another replied, “So I'm supportive of that too.” The committee did not record a formal roll-call motion during the transcripted exchange; members described this as a working decision to be reflected on the panel's long sheet that staff will update.
Committee staff said they will prepare an updated comparison sheet that shows the House version, committee changes and the governor's executive budget so members can track decisions and outstanding options as they prepare amendments.
Ending: The committee concluded the exchange by assigning staff to produce updated long sheets and follow-up responses to member questions on the underfund calculation, with members noting they would return to the issue when they consider final amendments later in the process.
