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DHHS proposes line‑item restructuring; subcommittee questions transparency and vacant‑position reductions
Summary
Department of Health and Human Services proposed consolidating 11 line items into seven to better align funding with organizational changes and recommended several vacant‑position savings. Some lawmakers worried consolidation would reduce budget transparency; department staff and LFA described reasons and asked for more time before a vote.
Legislative analysts and Department of Health and Human Services officials presented a proposal to simplify the department’s line‑item structure and discussed proposed reductions tied to vacant or unfilled positions.
Deputy Director Nate Winters and budget director Taylor Kaufman outlined a plan to reduce DHHS line items from 11 to seven. Proposed moves included aligning licensing, background checks, internal audit and administrative hearing functions into an operations line item; moving the Office of Medical Examiner and Correctional Health Services into long‑term services and supports; and bringing the public health lab, primary care and office of health equity under a public health prevention and epidemiology line item. The proposal was presented as an operational alignment intended to improve budgeting and reduce duplicated accounting across recently consolidated divisions.
Representative Fiofia (committee member) questioned whether consolidation would harm transparency and the ability of members and staff to trace funding; she asked for specific justifications for each transfer and more time to review accounting codes. Committee leadership agreed to postpone a motion on line‑item changes so staff and members could follow up with the department and legislative analysts.
On proposed savings, legislative staff presented three vacant‑position or vacancy‑savings reductions (line items on the reduction sheet): nine unfilled positions at the start of FY2025 proposed as ongoing and one‑time savings; vacant position savings at the state hospital (noted as having open positions not filled in 14 months) proposed as a one‑time $350,000 saving; and a decomposition of other one‑time vacant position savings totaling roughly $435,700. Department officials opposed the reductions, saying budgeted turnover savings are a normal part of operations and that unfilled positions do not equate to discretionary dollars because the department uses turnover savings to cover overtime, critical backfills and program continuity.
Deputy Director Winters said the department budgets for normal turnover and reinvests those savings across program needs; eliminating those budgeted lines would reduce operational flexibility and could create shortfalls when positions are subsequently filled. Lawmakers asked whether cuts would prevent filling positions in future years; staff said some savings are one‑time and would not permanently close the positions, but the department cautioned that the underlying budget already assumes turnover.
Ending: Committee members asked for additional detail and analysis; the chair delayed votes on line‑item consolidation and instructed staff to provide a clearer mapping of accounting codes and the operational impact of proposed vacant‑position reductions before the committee takes formal action.
