Lawmakers review supplemental budget bills to adjust current fiscal year spending

At a legislative caucus meeting, Joint Budget Committee members walked caucus members through a package of supplemental budget bills that would adjust spending for the current fiscal year across nearly every state department, including Corrections, Health Care Policy and Financing, Human Services, Education and Natural Resources.

The supplements correct forecast errors and respond to unanticipated costs, caseload changes and technical accounting adjustments, committee members said. Representative Byrd summarized the process: “This is our first best opportunity to make corrections or true ups,” and described the supplemental process as part of the legislature’s work to keep the fiscal-year budget current.

The most substantial single item discussed was a Medicaid overexpenditure for fiscal year 2023–24. Representative Byrd told members that Medicaid is an entitlement and that the state spent more than budgeted in 2023–24; the supplemental would release a controller lock to allow the budget to cover about $223,700,000 in prior-year Medicaid obligations. Byrd also said the department would seek adjustments across multiple Medicaid line items — medical services premiums, behavioral health, the Office of Community Living, public school health services, child health plans (CHIP), and other programs — to reflect higher-than-expected enrollment and utilization.

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