Appropriations committee trims and adds measures to Human Resources Division bill, including behavioral-health grants and state-hospital financing

The House Appropriations committee on Human Resources amended a draft appropriations bill to add and clarify funding for behavioral-health projects, juvenile diversion services and state hospital financing while removing a controversial rate-review provision.

Committee members voted to strike subsection 2 of Section 21 — a provision that would have required a complete rate review and changes to utilization limits for developmental disability services — and approved a package of new and revised sections that the committee agreed to fold into the bill.

The package includes a $12,960,000 behavioral-health facility grant for the Northeast Human Service Region; an authorization for the Bank of North Dakota to provide a $130,000,000 line of credit for a new state hospital; a $239,112,030 human services finance fund figure; an $8,000,000 opioid settlement fund allocation; and one-time appropriations for juvenile diversion services and other targeted items. Committee staff said the block-grant underfunded amount is 20,157,874.

"I guess I would move to strike section 2, subsection 2," Representative Peter Steeman said when he offered the motion to remove the subsection, which a committee roll call later approved unanimously. Committee staff member Keith summarized the budget details during the session: "the underfunded amount on there should be 20,157,874." Vice Chairman Steeman later described a separate line-item change: "we just saved a million dollars," when the committee reduced avail eCare funding from $2,000,000 to $1,000,000 by relying on roll-up funds.

Other specific amendments the committee discussed and agreed to include: - Section 6: a $12,960,000 behavioral-health facility grant for the Northeast Human Service Region, sponsored by Representative O'Brien. - Section 7: changes to a community cultural center grant that would require applicants to show 50% of…