Legislative committee slices $93 million from DPHHS budget

Jan. 11--HELENA -- Care for senior citizens and the disabled would be compromised if $93 million in preliminary budget cuts to the Department of Public Health and Human Services go through, critics say.

Of the cuts -- to be made over the next two years -- outlined Wednesday by the Joint Health and Human services Appropriations Subcommittee, $37.1 million come from the state general fund and $1.4 million come from the state special fund. Those cuts mean the department would also lose $54 million in federal matching funds.

Gov. Steve Bullock's budget had proposed cutting $18.9 million from the department over the next two years, though that number does not include the loss of federal matching dollars, which would be about $20 million, according to numbers provided by the Legislative Fiscal Division.

The department has an annual operating budget of $522.9 million and makes up 25 percent of the state general fund budget. The only larger agency is the Education Department, which includes K-12 and higher education and is a little more than half of the state budget. DPHHS operates a multitude of programs, including Child and Family Services, Child Support Enforcement, the Montana State Hospital in Warm Springs, suicide prevention efforts and more.

Sheila Hogan, DPHHS director, released a statement after the meeting saying the department had worked with the governor's office on their cuts, but criticized the committee's cuts.

"The additional, unnecessary cuts made today will strip vulnerable Montanans of critical community services, putting Montana families, seniors and children at risk," she said in the statement.

Claudia Clifford, advocacy director for AARP Montana, called the cuts "very significant" for seniors and those who need long-term care.

A 3.25 percent reduction proposed by the committee in a motion carried by Rep. Rob Cook, R-Conrad, trims about $14 million from Medicaid Core Services, which pays for senior and long-term care. Bullock's proposed cuts would have trimmed $9.4 million. Those figures include federal dollars. The committee also adopted Bullock's proposed cuts, in addition to Cook's.

The motion passed on a 4-3 vote.

Clifford said Medicaid Core Services provide assistance to the elderly or physically disabled. The program pays for nursing home care, hospice, personal care and home health care, among other programs. Core services also fund incentives for better pay and health insurance for home health workers, a profession that suffers from high turnover.

With Montana's rapidly aging population, Clifford said funding services to those 85 and older is critical. She said she understands the state faces declining revenues but believes that's not a long-term problem and Montana's seniors shouldn't suffer as a result over the biennium. The state took in 3.6 percent less in revenues in 2016 than the year before.

Bullock's budget proposes $74 million in cuts, while Republicans have said they will trim $120 million. Bullock also proposed $280 million in new taxes, something Republicans oppose.

"What happens to them over the next two years means a lot to them and their families," Clifford said.

In 2015, the number of Montanans age 65 and over was more than 178,000, and number is projected to grow to 266,584 by 2025, and 299,000 by 2030, according to numbers from the state's Aging Services division.

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Rose Hughes, a lobbyist for the Montana Health Care Association, said that if the cuts would eliminate direct services to people who are old or sick and are in nursing homes. She also said that though the cuts are not final, they already affect employees who worry about their jobs disappearing and seniors in care.

"When we tell people these cuts are looming, they start worrying," she said.

State Sen. Mary Caferro, D-Helena, questioned Cook on the lack of detail in budget documents provided to the committee by the Legislative Fiscal Division. She opposed Cook's motion, saying committee members didn't know what they were voting to cut, and questioned when the public would be able to comment on the proposed reductions.

"We voted on services some of the members of the committee don't even know about," she said.

Cook said over the next several weeks the subcommittee will work through each division of the department and hear public testimony that will inform its decisions.

He added that he expects there will be opportunity to add some money back into the budget based on the priorities of the Legislature instead of the governor.

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