House Human Services flags questions on recovery funding, moves $40,000 bereavement request up

House Human Services reviewed Health Department budget proposals on substance-use prevention and recovery and recommended further review of several items in a separate bill, H.218, while forwarding a $40,000 general-fund request for a bereavement peer-support group as the department team’s highest-priority general-fund ask.

The committee’s health-department presenters told members that, because draft appropriation language is still preliminary, “we are not putting the language on our committee webpage at this point in time because all of it is in very draft form.” The presenters asked the panel to defer fuller action on several line items until the committee meets later to take up H.218, a companion bill that will carry opioid-abatement spending decisions.

Why it matters: several of the Health Department’s line items relate to opioid-abatement settlement money, Medicaid matching rules and the use of new special funds (including the cannabis excise tax). Committee members said moving the items into H.218 will allow the panel to review how special funds and budget constructs interact with Medicaid match and global-commitment options.

What the committee discussed

- Opioid-abatement spending and H.218: Health department staff and committee members agreed to move some appropriations discussion into H.218. As one presenter put it, H.218 will contain “money that is being appropriated from the opioid abatement special fund in a separate bill.” Committee members said H.218 will allow review of how previously appropriated opioid-settlement dollars and new requests interact.

- Cannabis excise-tax funds and prevention: The presenters said the governor’s recommended budget includes $3,000,000 in general fund plus an additional $6,750,000 from special funds tied to the cannabis excise tax for prevention activities. Committee staff said they do not recommend adjustments at this time but plan to ask Dr. Levine for clarification about how the cannabis-related dollars would be used and how outcomes would be…