Legislative Update 4-22-22

Written by Derek Melot on April 22, 2022. Posted in Blog, Events, Legislative, MAC news, MACSC, Marketing, NACo

Senate panel signs off on 10% boost for revenue sharing

A 10 percent increase for county revenue sharing for fiscal 2023 took another step toward enactment this week when the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on General Government, chaired by Sen. Roger Victory (R-Ottawa), passed out its FY23 recommendations.

Included in this budget is a recommendation to support the governor’s proposed increase for county revenue sharing. The plan would give counties a one-time 5 percent increase in revenue sharing and an additional 5 percent increase in the base funding amount going forward. For FY23, this would mean $243 million for counties.

The House has yet to put forth its recommendations for FY23 revenue sharing. According to statute, the state budget must be finalized by July 1 each year for the new fiscal year that begins Oct. 1.

For more information on this issue, contact Deena Bosworth at bosworth@micounties.org.

Senate subcommittees advance FY23 budget bills

Subcommittees of the Senate Appropriations Committee continued their fiscal 2023 budget work this week.

For the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), the state’s largest budget, the Senate panel voted out $32.5 billion, 2 percent less than for FY22 but with significant investments in mental health. This includes $101 million for certified community behavioral health clinics (CCBHC) and $61 million to expand behavioral and substance use disorder health homes. The recommendation also calls for $10 million for the jail diversion fund, which provides grants to local units of government to establish or expand behavioral health jail diversion programs in coordination between community agencies and law enforcement agencies.

Other items to note in the DHHS budget are:

$5 million for a crisis stabilization unit in Northern Michigan
Continuation of a $2.35 per hour direct care worker wage boost
$279 million for the Child Care Fund, with an additional $3.5 million for indirect costs
$9.1 million for the Raise the Age Fund
$2.4 million to increase the juvenile justice basic grant to counties with fewer than 75,000 residents (58 counties) from $15,000 to $56,520
$15 million to fully phase out the local match drawn down for Medicaid

The House DHHS budget is expected to move next week.

The Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Licensing and Regulatory Affairs gave support to full funding of MIDC grants at $149 million.

The Senate Subcommittee on State Police added $1 million to the governor’s plan for county road patrol grants, bringing the total to $5 million from the General Fund. This is a point of difference with the House, which is working on a plan to shift road patrol’s funding source to the state liquor tax.

The Senate Corrections Subcommittee backed $14.8 million for the county jail reimbursement program, unchanged from the previous year.

The County Veteran Service Fund would sit at $4.2million, which aligns with the governor’s and House recommendations.

The Senate Appropriations Judiciary Subcommittee supported many of the governor’s recommendations, with one notable difference: leaving out the $175 million for a statewide judicial case management system.

For more information on these issues, contact Meghann Keit-Corrion at keit@micounties.org.

Senate committee takes up key bills for medical care facilities

A bill to extend the county maintenance of effort (MOE) rate for county medical care facilities (MCFs) for three years continues to move swiftly through the legislative process. After House passage last week and acting on requests from the Michigan County Medical Care Facilities Council (MCMCFC) and MAC to keep the momentum, the Senate Health Policy Committee held a hearing on the bill this week.

House Bill 5875, by Rep. Bronna Kahle (R-Lenawee), provides an extension to the MOE freeze until 2025, or until the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) implements a new reimbursement model, whichever is sooner.

Renee Beniak, MCMCFC’s executive director, outlined for the committee the history of the MOE and the importance of this legislation to maintain higher Medicaid reimbursements rates for services for some of the most vulnerable citizens. Other organizations supporting the bill alongside MCMCFC are MAC, the Health Care Association of Michigan (HCAM) and LeadingAge Michigan.

The bill awaits a vote from the Senate Health Policy Committee, chaired by Sen. Curt VanderWall (R-Mason). A committee vote could come as soon as next week, and MCMCFC has hopes for quick action then on the Senate floor.

The same committee did unanimously vote out an important long-term care staffing bill that would allow temporary nurse aides who met training requirements during the COVID-19 emergency to count their experience for training requirements to become a certified nurse aide (CNA). House Bill 5089, by Rep. Ann Bollin (R-Livingston), would also ensure the state allows nurse aide training and testing to be done remotely, online and in a nursing facility. Allowing for these options will remove many of the barriers for these temporary aides to receive registration as a CNA. MCMCFC, HCAM and LeadingAge Michigan all supported the bill. The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs submitted a neutral position.

For more information on these issues, contact Meghann Keit-Corrion at keit@micounties.org.

Live Podcast 83 episodes return on Monday, May 2

How soon will Michigan have a fiscal 2023 budget? Will it include the 10 percent boost in county revenue sharing first proposed by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer? What’s going to happen with the $3 billion in the still unassigned state American Rescue Plan funds?

These and other questions are likely to be tackled in the next LIVE episode of Podcast 83 on Monday, May 2.

The update will begin at 4 p.m. To join the session, just use this Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82867692853.

Viewers will be able to ask questions of Podcast 83 team as well.

Last Monday, MAC Director of Governmental Affairs Deena Bosworth and Governmental Affairs Associate Meghann Keit-Corrion discussed the latest action on the FY23 state budget and some troubling legislation that would make major changes to the state’s Freedom of Information Act in a Podcast 83 episode recorded on Monday.

Watch a video of the session on-demand here.

Previous episodes in 2022 can be seen at MAC’s YouTube Channel.

And you always can find details about any Podcast 83 episode on the MAC website.