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Senate committee hears push to lock mental‑health contract funding; sponsor to rewrite bill after DHS concerns
Summary
Senator Hammer presented SB519 to hold community mental health center contract funding at 07/01/2018 levels; DHS warned federal grants and Medicaid reimbursements fluctuate and cited a prior state general revenue line of about $2 million. The sponsor said she will pull the bill to add "other revenue streams" and meet with DHS before returning it to committee.
Senator Hammer brought Senate Bill 519 to the Public Health, Welfare and Labor Committee seeking to protect funding levels for community mental health centers once they enter state contracts. She said the centers "provide a very essential valuable service" in all 75 counties and asked that future contract funding be held "to that which is appropriated as of 07/01/2018" so providers would not be forced to "do more with less."
Jay Hill, division director for aging and adult behavioral health services at the Department of Human Services, testified the department had concerns with the bill as written because it would attempt to mandate consistent funding that depends in part on federal block grants and Medicaid reimbursements, which "we don't have control over" and which "fluctuate from year to year." Hill told the committee a removed state general revenue line previously totaled approximately "$2,000,000" spread across 12 community mental health catchment areas.
Committee members pressed both sides on the mechanics: Senator Hickey asked whether Medicaid billing or block grants could be treated as "other revenue streams" in the draft language; Hill said Medicaid billing is a separate billing source and would not be categorized as a federal block grant. Members discussed adding broader language to cover alternative funding flows. Senator Hammer acknowledged the concern that if federal grants decline, state general revenue could be required to fill the gap.
Rather than seek an immediate committee vote, Senator Hammer said she would pull the bill, instruct bill drafter to add language allowing "other revenue streams," and meet with DHS to reconcile how to protect provider stability without creating an unfunded mandate. The sponsor scheduled a follow‑up meeting with DHS to produce revised language before bringing the bill back to committee.
Next steps: Senator Hammer will submit amended language that may reference other federal, state or third‑party funding sources; the bill was not advanced in this meeting.
