Agency of Human Services presents $3.75 billion budget, proposes program cuts and shelter investments

Secretary Jenny Samuelson and Agency of Human Services Chief Financial Officer Tracy O’Connell laid out the agency’s proposed budget and a set of program changes at a House of Corporations Committee meeting. The agency’s total budget is roughly $3,750,000,000 and the governor’s package proposes an $86,100,000 increase, or 6.1 percent, to keep current services operating and fund targeted investments.

Why it matters: AHS is one of the state’s largest agencies and its budget affects Medicaid services, mental-health capacity, homelessness response and multiple workforce programs. Committee members pressed staff on the drivers of the increase, proposed program eliminations and how changes in federal matching rates will affect state funding needs.

What the agency proposed: Samuelson said the increase includes roughly $74,000,000 in base funding to maintain existing programs and $11,200,000 in general fund for new initiatives. O’Connell detailed several specific pressures: about $13,000,000 to backfill a decline in the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP); roughly $4,500,000 tied to a reduced federal match for SNAP administration under HR1; and an $8,700,000 shortfall tied to lower-than-expected…