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April 29, 2005
The Senate completed work on the 2006 fiscal year budget, breezing through the thirteen budget bills in a day-and-a-half of debate. Senator Chuck Gross of St. Charles, Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, says not everybody is happy with what was decided on, but he's pleased the debate was orderly and constructive. The next step is for a House-Senate conference to begin to iron out the differences in the two chambers' versions of the budget bills. The first meeting is scheduled for Thursday afternoon, with Gross expecting that work to be completed by early next week.
News this week includes:
Budget Debate Moving To Senate Floor
The deadline for work to be completed on the 2006 Fiscal Year Budget is rapidly approaching, and work moves to the Senate floor this week. Senator Chuck Gross of St. Charles, who Chairs the Appropriations Committee, says the initial phase of the discussions starts this week before House and Senate negotiators get together to iron out their differences. Gross says that while there are some differences between the two chambers' versions of various budget bills, the differences are not philosophical and he expects all things to be worked out in a timely manner. The conference could begin this weekend. A budget must be in place by 6pm on May 6th.
Budget Bills Reach Final Week of Deliberation
The Missouri Senate has approved with few changes the version of the state budget developed by the Senate Appropriations Committee. For each of the appropriations bills, a conference committee of legislators has been appointed to negotiate a resolution of the differences between the House and Senate versions of the bill.
The conference committees will develop recommended compromise bills that must be ratified by each chamber. The constitutional deadline for completing work on the budget is 6 p.m. Friday, May 6. The fiscal year for which funds are being appropriated begins July 1, 2005.
However, a number of changes in Medicaid eligibility and services will not take effect until August 28, 2005. August 28 is the effective date of Senate Bill 539, which was signed into law this week by Governor Matt Blunt. Senate Bill 539 revises state law to prevent legal challenges to some of the spending cuts included in the Medicaid budget. It also creates a legislative Medicaid Reform Commission charged with developing recommendations to revamp the Medicaid program.
House Health Care Policy
Senate Bill 74 , Senator Champion, was heard by the House Health Care Policy Committee on Wednesday. The legislation is also contained in HB 835 .
Senate Bill 74 contains language from the Governor’s office. The bill modifies and creates new provisions with respect to the Department of Health and Senior Services.
NEWBORN SCREENING - This act provides that newborn screening requirements are not limited to disorders and conditions specified in current law.
HEPATITIS C INFORMATION - This act requires healthcare employers to make certain information available to their employees on the risk of exposure to hepatitis C, including availability of testing, cost, and protocol for accidental exposure.
The department shall maintain a "Missouri Hepatitis C" Internet website and provide information on the disease and on support groups in Missouri. The website must also contain links providing information on the disease.
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND SENIOR SERVICES FUNDS - This also act creates the Department of Health and Senior Services Administrative and Cost Allocation Fund and the Department of Health and Senior Services Disaster Fund.
The act specifies that the administrative and cost allocation fund will receive funding by appropriations, deposits, and moneys transferred or paid to the department in return for goods and services provided.
The disaster fund will be used during a state of emergency at the direction of the Governor to furnish immediate aid and relief.
As to both funds, the State Treasurer will serve as custodian and the department director will serve as administrator. Also, moneys in these funds will not lapse to general revenue at the end of the biennium, and all interest earned will be deposited into the funds.
This act also provides that any interest earned on the Missouri Public Health Services Fund shall accrue to the fund.
BIRTH AND DEATH CERTIFICATES - This act also modifies the birth and death certificate provisions. This act provides that a birth certificate shall be filed within five days of birth and certify the place, time, and date of the live birth by a signature or an electronic process approved by the Department of Health and Senior Services. Current law provides that the certificate be filed within seven days of birth. Also, when a medical certification is filed in order to obtain a death certificate, it must be attested to by either a signature or an electronic process approved by the department.
Limits on State Appropriations
On Tuesday, the House Budget Committee heard HJR 12, sponsored by Rep. Bearden (R-St. Charles). This proposed constitutional amendment prohibits appropriations in any fiscal year from exceeding the total state general revenue appropriations from the previous year by more than the appropriations growth limit. The appropriations growth limit is the greater of zero or the sum of the annual rate of inflation and the annual Missouri population growth.
For any fiscal year in which the net general revenue collections are in excess of 1% above the authorized net general revenue appropriations allowed, in equal amounts, the excess is to be transferred to the Cash Operating Reserve Fund and the Budget Reserve Fund. Any revenue in excess of the specified limits of the funds will be refunded, pro rata, based on tax liabilities reported in the tax year in which the fiscal year ended. Any taxpayer can designate on the state income tax return that any refund be credited to the taxpayer's future tax years. Total state general revenue appropriations may exceed the appropriations limit only if the Governor declares an emergency and the General Assembly approves appropriation bills to meet the emergency. The funds appropriated to meet the emergency will not increase the appropriation limit for the succeeding fiscal year. New or increased tax revenues or fees receiving voter approval will be exempt from the calculation of the appropriations growth limit for the year in which they are passed. One-half of the balance in the Budget Reserve Fund is to be transferred to the Cash Operating Reserve Fund. The Cash Operating Reserve Fund's maximum balance is 5% of the net general revenue collected in the previous fiscal year. Funds in excess of the maximum balance will be transferred to the General Revenue Fund. In any fiscal year in which the Governor reduces expenditures below amounts appropriated, the Governor may request an emergency appropriation from the Budget Reserve Fund. If the request is approved by the General Assembly, funds may be restored to any expenditure authorized by existing appropriations. The Budget Reserve Fund's maximum balance at the end of a fiscal year is 7% of the net general revenue collections for the previous fiscal year. Funds in excess of the maximum balance are to be transferred to the General Revenue Fund. If the balance is less than 7%, the difference will be transferred from the General Revenue Fund. Funds appropriated from the Budget Reserve Fund must be paid back within five years of the original transfer date. The committee voted HJR 12 due pass by a vote of 17 – 9.
Legislators Approve Umbilical Cord Blood Bank Grants
Senate Bill 323 has been given final approval by the General Assembly and sent to the governor for review. The bill authorizes a system of grants to support new or expanded umbilical cord blood banks.
These blood banks collect and preserve umbilical cord and placental blood from live births for use in medical treatments and in research on human stem cells. The grant program will be administered by the life sciences review board. Grant recipients would need to commit to operate an umbilical cord blood bank for at least eight years.
While the bill authorizes the grant program, it does not fund it. The availability of grants is based on appropriations made specifically for that purpose.
Committee Advances Medical Malpractice Insurance Reform
The Senate Small Business, Insurance & Industrial Relations Committee approved a new version of legislation to expand the state’s regulation of the medical malpractice liability insurance market. The new Senate Committee Substitute for House Bill 394 limits the scope of the bill passed by the House of Representatives. For example, the Senate committee bill gives insurers more latitude in setting premiums without triggering Department of Insurance review and possible disapproval. The House had adopted a rate review standard of 20 percent above or below the market rate for the risk category; the Senate committee opted for 30 percent. The Senate Committee Substitute also limits the obligation of insurers to give policyholders notice of premium increases, deletes a House proposal to allow a quasi-public workers’ compensation insurer to begin to offer medical malpractice liability coverage and eliminates a requirement that insurers offer occurrence-based policies by 2010.
Bill Addresses Newborn Abandonment and Emergency Responder Liability
A Senate bill dealing with judicial procedures has been amended by a House committee to include two items related to hospitals and health care. The House Committee Substitute for Senate Bills 420 & 344 authorizes the State Legal Expense Fund to provide liability coverage for practitioners who volunteer to be deployed to respond to a state-declared emergency. The State Legal Expense Fund currently provides liability coverage for state employees and various practitioners who provide free or low-cost medical services in city or county clinics. Also, the bill authorizes state licensing boards to release otherwise confidential information to public or private organizations as needed to facilitate credentialing of practitioners during a state emergency.
The House Committee Substitute for Senate Bills 420 & 344 also expands current law allowing infants up to 30 days old to be left in the custody of a hospital or public safety official without incurring prosecution for child abandonment. The bill would increase the age limit to include infants up to one year old.
Blunt Press Release
The following press release was issued this week by Governor Matt Blunt.
JEFFERSON CITY - Governor Matt Blunt marked his 100th day in office today reflecting on promises kept to Missourians, the enactment of legislation to improve the state's economic climate, and his efforts to make public education the true top priority of state government.
In just one hundred days, Blunt has kept the promises he made to Missourians to sign meaningful litigation reform and workers' compensation reform into law, to repeal an executive order from the previous administration that would have allowed service unions to take money from state employees without their consent, and to put a freeze on the purchase of non-emergency vehicles, cell phones and leased office space.
Blunt has also honored commitments to make public education the state's true public policy priority by proposing a significant increase in funding for public schools and to restore fiscal discipline by proposing a state budget that lives within the people's means without any new taxes or increases on existing taxes.
Lawmakers have also enacted significant reforms, largely based on Blunt's recommendations, to Missouri's social welfare system. As a candidate, Blunt pledged to address problems with waste, fraud and abuse in the system and that he would make eligibility changes if it was determined that fighting fraud alone would not cover the costs of a program that has ballooned in recent years.
Blunt's social welfare reforms will save taxpayer's an estimated $75 million annually while still providing services to more than 900,000 out of the state's 5 million residents.
"It is truly an honor to serve the people of Missouri as their governor," Blunt said. "Melanie and I are deeply grateful for the opportunity we have been given to improve the quality of life in the state we love and are proud to call home.
"I am pleased with the progress we have made so far to move Missouri in a new direction. We have taken significant steps to improve the economy and help our entrepreneurs and employers create good, family-supporting jobs and to make public education the state's top priority. We have done these things in a spirit of cooperation with the Legislature and I am very optimistic about the possibilities the future holds."
The enactment of litigation and workers' compensation reform is noteworthy as previous attempts were vetoed by former Gov. Holden. Blunt also signed into law a bill changing the name of Southwest Missouri State University to Missouri State University, an effort more than 20 years in the making.
That same bill also made Missouri Western State College and Harris-Stowe State College universities, dropped the Joplin City designation from Missouri Southern State University and gave Central Missouri State University in Warrensburg the option of changing its name to the University of Central Missouri.
Next week:
Only two weeks remain until the May 13 th adjournment. Action will be focused on the House and Senate floors.
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