Sen. Jane Kitchel, D-Caledonia, chair of the panel, says lawmakers are considering proposals to boost pay for mental health workers. They are also looking to fund additional psychiatric beds in the fiscal year 2019 budget.
The committee will make final decisions about the must-pass Big Bill next week.
The $5.84 billion budget the House passed last month invests in several new services for people who need psychiatric care, including housing with supportive services and a 24-hour-a-day “warm line” — a free emergency support line for Vermonters who need help with mental health issues.
Senate Appropriations is considering more dramatic proposals to bolster the state’s mental heath system.
Kitchel said senators on the panel support funding for 12 additional psychiatric beds.
Whether the details of the Senate proposal, which have yet to be finalized, will miror the Scott administration’s emerging plans for additional beds is unclear. The Agency of Human Services proposed a 12-bed facility at the Northwest Regional Correctional Facility in Swanton that would serve people who enter the mental health system through the courts.
The House did not approve funding for the construction or operations of the proposed facility.
This month, the Scott administration told lawmakers they would consider expanding mental health treatment capacity at The Brattleboro Retreat, a private psychiatric facility in Windham County that already provides a limited number of in-patient beds for the state.
Meanwhile, UVM Health Network has agreed to invest $21 million of a surplus in a mental health facility in Berlin near the Central Vermont Medical Center and the Vermont Psychiatric Care Center
Kitchel said the committee hasn’t decided where the beds should be, but hopes to build funding into next year’s budget for additional in-patient capacity.
“The Senate, I think, is very strong in its belief that we need to do everything possible to get those additional beds online as soon as possible.”
Kitchel said committee members are also committed to improving compensation for mental health workers.
Last year’s budget included more than $8 million in increased pay for workers at mental health agencies. The money came from the state and the federal Medicaid program.
“I think this committee is very much committed to doing a second phase, maybe in a more targeted way, to address the inadequacy of compensation,” Kitchel said. “We have a tremendous shortage of professionals and so when you compound that with lower pay you can see why the agencies are really struggling to attract the staff and keep staff.”
The House’s budget restored cuts to disabilities programs the Scott administration had proposed cutting, including $4.3 million to a waiver program that provides support to more than 3,000 Vermonters with disabilities. About half of the cost is borne by the state.
The House budget also rejected the governor’s proposaly to eliminate a $308,000 loan repayment program for doctors.
Kitchel said that in these areas of the budget, her committee’s thinking “will probably align with the House.”
However, the Senate Appropriations Committee may diverge with the House on how it proposes spending $28 million in one-time funds the state will receive as the result of a tobacco settlement.
Under the House budget, about half of the windfall, $14 million, would be used to fund efforts to fight opioid addiction. Of the other half of the funds, $10 million, would be used to pay down teachers’ retirement obligations. Lawmakers say the additional payment on the unfunded pension liability could lead to about $30 million in savings on interest.
Kitchel said she would consider using some of the tobacco settlement money for efforts to boost the state’s workforce or improving court processes for child welfare.
“I view that as a real opportunity to do some major structural changes and systems work that could have long-term benefits,” she said.
And like the House, the Senate will be working to build a budget that doesn’t rely on raising additional taxes and fees.
“We’re operating within the same box,” Kitchel said.
