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Senate Finance committee agrees to print bill to add Office of Administrative Hearings to statewide cost allocation
Summary
The Senate Finance Committee on Oct. 24 granted unanimous consent to print a bill that would authorize the Office of Administrative Hearings to be folded into the statewide cost allocation program (SWICAP) and permit the office to direct-bill the Department of Health and Welfare for cases it handles for that agency.
The Senate Finance Committee on Oct. 24 granted unanimous consent to print a bill that would authorize the Office of Administrative Hearings to be folded into the statewide cost allocation program (SWICAP) and permit the office to direct-bill the Department of Health and Welfare for cases it handles for that agency.
Lori Wolf, administrator for the Division of Financial Management, told the committee the office of administrative hearings was established in fiscal year 2023 and initially received general fund support for start-up operations. "My name is Lori Wolf and I'm the administrator division of financial management," she said before describing the bill's purpose.
Wolf said the office has taken on more agencies over time and that the bill would provide statutory authority to include that office in the SWICAP model. She said SWICAP typically uses a two-year look-back for cost estimation, which requires the division to begin cost estimates in fiscal year 2026; the office would fully move into the SWICAP model in fiscal year 2028. Wolf also said the bill would allow the office to direct-bill the Department of Health and Welfare for cases handled on that department's behalf.
A committee member asked whether costs would be allocated only to agencies that use the Office of Administrative Hearings or spread across agencies; Wolf answered that the plan is to allocate costs to agencies that utilize the office and that the two-year cost-estimate process will clarify exact charges.
A senator moved to print the bill; another senator seconded the motion. The chair asked for unanimous consent to print the routing slip, and, with no objections, the request was approved and the routing slip will be printed. Committee members were told the bill will be formally printed and that there will be a fuller hearing and opportunity for questions at a later time.
The action prints the request for legislation and begins the formal bill-processing steps; no roll-call vote was recorded in the transcript.
