[K]ey members of Gov. Peter Shumlin’s cabinet asked lawmakers Monday to approve a proposal that would let the state spend more money in the current fiscal year on human services and other government programs.
Andy Pallito, the commissioner of the Department of Finance and Management, and Hal Cohen, the secretary of the Agency of Human Services, were key presenters who asked the House Appropriations Committee for $88.9 million more on top of an already approved $5.5 billion budget for fiscal year 2016.
The proposed changes are part of a law the Legislature passes every year January called the Budget Adjustment Act. That’s a standard part of the budget process in which a governor’s administration asks the Legislature for changes to the executive branch budgets, and the Legislature passes a bill in the beginning of the legislative session.
In this year’s proposal from the Shumlin administration, the federal government would pay for $60.4 million of the $88.9 million spending package, or the majority of the proposed budget change. Most of that federal money — 96 percent — is going to pay for Medicaid expenses that lawmakers hadn’t anticipated when they passed a budget in May.
Additionally, the Shumlin administration proposes using $14.7 million that was budgeted for the General Fund but not used, plus $10.3 million sitting in the Health Care Resources Fund, which is essentially a reserve fund. The remaining roughly $3.5 million would be spent from other state funds.
“It’s a normal budget — win some, lose some,” said Rep. Mitzi Johnson, D-South Hero, who chairs the House Appropriations Committee. She said the budget adjustment process is just starting, and for now she appreciates the thorough documentation the Shumlin administration has provided.
The proposal in question wouldn’t raise any new taxes to cover the current budget, and Johnson said the rearranging process, in a nutshell, means this: “(Money) was allocated to somebody for a specific purpose. They either didn’t do that purpose or found a different way to pay for it, so we said, ‘We get that back. Thank you very much.’”
About $71 million of that rearranged state and federal money would go to the Department of Vermont Health Access, which oversees Medicaid. Other major spending items include a $3.3 million plan for the Department for Children and Families to fund social workers and other employees, and another roughly $1.9 million to cover unanticipated pressures in the same department.
There are also more than a dozen other adjustments. Among them, the Attorney General’s Office is asking for $125,000 to cover fees for arguing a health data case in front of the U.S. Supreme Court. Another $75,000 would go to needle exchange programs in Burlington, Rutland, and St. Johnsbury that are about to lose major federal funding. Other funds would help the state offer psychiatric care nurses higher salaries to keep staffing up at the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital.
Cohen, from the Agency of Human Services, said nurses at the Vermont Psychiatric Care Hospital make significantly less money than nurses working at the Central Vermont Medical Center just one door over. If the state can hire a nurse with a higher incentive package, the state would then save money on traveling nurses, he said.
Lawmakers on the House Appropriations Committee also questioned Cohen on whether the changes at the Department for Children and Families would be enough, or whether they were part of a larger plan to address child protection.
“I just have the sense that we’re not getting to the problem, and I would really like to stop doing kind of patchwork,” said Rep. Mary Hooper, D-Montpelier. “We can keep doing patchwork as long as we know the quilt we’re building, but I don’t think we know what the quilt is.”
Cohen replied: “We think the situation is so critical that it would be wrong to wait. It takes time to do hires and training, and this is a problem that we’re faced with right this minute.”
Shumlin will present his budget for fiscal year 2017 in January in his annual address before lawmakers.
Clarification: Gov. Shumlin’s proposal would also authorize $1.55 million in spending from the clean water fund for initiatives approved by the fund’s board, including an ecosystem restoration program, on-farm clean water implementation, and others. No money from the clean water fund will be used for general fund purposes.
