Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Workforce Compensation topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Committee advances Best Life Alliance bill to raise wage factors for disability services
Summary
House File 3‑82, the Best Life Alliance bill, would increase the competitive workforce factor and adjust supervisory wage calculations in the disability waiver rate system to help providers recruit and retain staff; the committee adopted a technical amendment and laid the bill over.
Representative Jo Curran presented House File 3‑82, the Best Life Alliance bill, asking lawmakers to increase reimbursement factors used to set wages in waiver‑funded disability services. The committee adopted a technical A1 amendment and laid the bill over for further consideration.
The bill contains two targeted reforms: update the competitive workforce factor in the Disability Waiver Rate System (DWRS) to reflect the most recent Department of Human Services analysis (testimony cited a recommended adjustment to about 16.76%) and revise the occupational wage mix used to set a supervisor wage so supervisory pay better reflects management responsibilities. Ken Bence, director of research and policy for ARM, explained that the competitive workforce factor was initially set at 4.7% and raised to 6.7% in 2023, but DHS analysis shows a larger current gap (16.76%) between direct support wages and comparable occupations.
Julie Johnson, president of MSS and government affairs chair of MORE, testified the workforce shortage leaves about 150 people on her organization's wait list and that higher, competitive wages are essential to serve more people and prevent skill loss after high school.
Ken Bence explained the supervisory wage change: rather than using a single occupational median that in some frameworks produced supervisory wages lower than direct support wages, the bill would calculate a supervisory wage as 40% community and social services specialist median plus 60% community and social services manager median. Bence said that change would raise a supervisory wage to roughly $30 per hour in the example provided.
Representative Curran noted the bill had multiple signers and urged colleagues to support it. The A1 technical amendment was adopted and Representative Curran moved the bill be laid over; the motion was approved.
Votes at a glance: House File 3‑82 — A1 amendment adopted (voice vote); motion to lay over made by Representative Curran; outcome: laid over for possible inclusion.
