The House Appropriations Committee met on Jan. 14 to debrief testimony on the Budget Adjustment Act and to set a timeline for review and votes, the committee’s chair (Speaker 1) said. The panel will receive spreadsheets from the Joint Fiscal Office, hold a straw poll on Jan. 23 and aim for a committee vote the following Monday before floor consideration later that week.

The session focused on clarifying amounts and mechanisms rather than making policy decisions. “We’re not gonna make any decisions on it,” Speaker 1 said, describing the meeting as a chance to confirm numbers and identify outstanding questions. Committee members asked staff to gather more detailed spreadsheets and to follow up with agencies that testified at the public hearing.

Members flagged several substantive concerns that will require additional staff work. Committee members said recovery centers provided itemized requests that added to roughly $800,000 across 12 centers, but the department distributed funds in a manner that produced discrepancies between center requests and actual allocations. Speaker 1 told colleagues the committee should probe why distributions diverged from centers’ stated needs and consider more specific BAA language if necessary.

Testimony and member questions also raised an issue with enhanced residential care funding. Witnesses said the department reallocated money across tiers, reducing resources for the tier used by people with early-stage Alzheimer’s and making placement harder for that population. Speaker 3 said human services committee follow-up is expected and asked staff to identify the scale of the change.

Several members pressed for clarification on a carryforward appropriation tied to a housing-related program that appears in the governor’s materials. Committee discussion included whether the line under question represented funding for 10 staff positions or grant-supported work. Speaker 1 said the number in the governor’s spreadsheet suggested a $1,000,000 line rather than $1.9 million and asked staff to review prior documentation to resolve the discrepancy.

The panel also asked the Joint Fiscal Office to verify whether Reach Up block-grant funds must remain in the program after a witness alleged some funds have been moved elsewhere. Speaker 3 cited testimony that the Reach Up block grant totals $47 million with $36 million spent and said the committee should get statutory guidance on whether the money can be reallocated.

Other items members asked staff to quantify included: the cost of a 2% Medicaid-related rate increase for areas on aging and case management; the financial impact of a requested FQHC rate adjustment (members said they have figures from last year to guide estimates); and an $800,000 shortfall reported by a county transit provider seeking temporary support. Members also raised repeated delays in executing contracts from the Agency of Human Services, which has hindered organizations’ ability to use budgeted money in a timely way.

Committee members agreed next steps: JFO will compile and circulate spreadsheets, staff will follow up with testifying agencies (including Teresa Woods’ committee and the Treasurer’s office), and the committee will resume markup at 9:30 a.m. the following morning. The chair offered to present the floor report unless a volunteer steps forward. The meeting concluded without votes.

What happens next: staff will supply requested cost estimates and documentation; the committee plans a straw poll on Jan. 23 and a committee vote shortly afterward before sending the BAA to the floor for consideration.