Volume 8, Issue 2 January 17, 2003 Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities ~ The Georgia ARC Network ~ Statewide Independent Living Council ~ Unlock the Waiting Lists! Campaign Governor Perdue gave the Budget Address this past Wednesday to the General Assembly. The majority of recommended allocations, $8.8 billion or 55% of the total State budget, are dedicated to education, and Human Services allocations make up 23% of the budget. The General Assembly will be in recess next week. On Monday, the Capitol is closed for the MLK Holiday and the remaining four days of the week will be used for committee hearings on the proposed state appropriations bill. The House will reconvene at 10:00 AM, January 28th. Legislation Tracker House Bill 81: Teachers; rights for continued employment; restore Sponsors: Lucas 105th district, Cummings 19th, Hugley 113th, Greene 134th, Reece 11th, Jordan 83rd. Status: Read and referred to Education Committee House Bill 82: Fair Lending; redefine points and fees; exclude certain fees Sponsors: O'Neal 117th district, Richardson 26th, Massey 24th. Status: Read and referred to House Banks and Banking Committee House Bill 34: Education; students committing certain acts of physical violence; disciplinary tribunal Sponsor: Greene-Johnson, 60th district post 3 Status: Filed View the entire bill at http://www.legis.state.ga.us/ . Senate Leadership Mark Taylor........................President Eric Johnson, 1....................President Protem Tom Price, 56......................Senate Majority Leader Joey Brush, 24 ....................Senate Education Chair Jack Hill, 4.........................Senate Appropriations Chair House Leadership Terry Coleman, 118............. Speaker of the House Tom Buck, 112.....................House Appropriations Chair Bob Holmes, 48, post 1............House Education Chair For more information: House Information 1-800-282-5800 Senate Information 404 463-6747 (FAX), or 1-800-282-5803 Governor's Budget Address Highlights "Healthcare costs in Georgia and to state government continue to rise year after year, particularly in Medicaid. The FY 2004 recommendation for the state's portion of Medicaid is $1.7 billion. Medicaid is a large and growing part of our health services budget. But we will be making other investments to improve the health of Georgians. We will also continue to work toward full implementation of the Olmstead decision of the United States Supreme Court regarding services for the disabled. I recommend $11.2 million to facilitate those moving from institutions to community-based settings. I propose $2.3 million to accommodate those waiting for community-based services, $3.2 million to provide community-based residential care for those citizens currently in nursing homes who are medically able and wish to live in the community and $5.6 [million] to identify, assess, and transition persons from state institutions to the community." Perdue indicated that he intends to use at total of 40% of the State's reserves, or Rainy Day Fund, to finance existing budget deficits of $138 million in FY'03 and $142 million in FY'04. He also announced a new alcohol and tobacco excise tax that sunsets in four years. The revenue is expected to generate $91.5 million in 2003 and $387 million in 2004 and will be used to offset increases in healthcare. To view the entire budget address, visit http://www.gagovernor.org/speech/press.cgi?prfile=PR.20020116.01 Budget Overview This is the general picture of the Governor's new budget recommendations. The implications for the disability community are still to be determined as advocates review overall gains and losses. Moving Forward will continue to update the budget each week as details emerge. Everything in the message below is about state dollars, not federal dollars. Additional information and DD Council Moving Forward will have the federal dollars included. FY 2003 Supplemental Budget- This is a mid-year adjustment to the year we are in right now. Georgia's budget shortfall is over $600 million of which $450 million is Medicaid. The proposed cuts in MHDDAD totals $8 million or 1.3% of their state budget. These include: state dollars Consolidation of Augusta Regional Hospital and Gracewood administration (259,000) Cut state MR service dollars and refinance with Social Service Block grant (462,500) One-time hiring freeze of state office and state hospital staff (1.5 million) Austerity Adjustments (new term for budget cuts) ($3.1 million) (All austerity adjustment items will be proposed by the respective departments to the Governor's Office of Planning and Budget.) Enhancements include: Transfer 11 children from nursing homes to community $222, 692 Transition planning for people with DD or mental illness who want to move to community from institutions $170,000 Start-up costs for 65 children moving from institutions to community $585,000 At this time it is unclear how the austerity adjustments will affect the home and community-based programs. FY 2004 Budget Revenues- The big budget contains temporary tax increases for tobacco and alcohol totaling some $400 Million. It also calls for using the Rainy Day funds. There are large budget cuts and provider rate increases. Enhancements Department of Community Health state dollars 145 people to move from nursing home to community $3.2 million Assessment of people to move from nursing home to community $75,000 15 people with serious mental illness will move from institutions to community and this reflects their primary care health costs $36,045 10 people off ICWP waiting list $220,369 Department of Human Resources The only enhancements to DHR are for child welfare and Olmstead/Waiting Lists items. The overall Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disability, and Addictive Disease FY 04 budget has been cut by $11 million state dollars. All cuts described below are from existing state dollars. These are not all the cuts to MHDDAD. These are only the ones which appear to directly impact DD Consolidate administration at Augusta Regional and Gracewood ($813,417) Reduce administration costs at CSBs ($2.6 million) Cut MR state funds and replace with SSBG federal funds Eliminate contract with Georgia Hearing Impaired Austerity adjustments (budget cuts) Pay raise from last year not annualized for 2004 million) ($761,108) ($50,000) ($5.46 million) ($3.61 Because so many people with DD are served in the Community Mental Health Centers, which include all the CSB's, the additional cut of another $4.2 million will affect people with DD. All enhancements are from projections for maximizing federal revenue through the ICF/MRs, ICFs and Skilled nursing facilities. The term used for this maximization process is upper payment limit (UPL). It is based on changing the federal reimbursement rates at the institutions so they can capture 100% of their costs in the future. This is a short-term fix during a fiscal crisis, not a long term solution. Enhancements state dollars Move 50 people from state hospitals to community $2.6 million Move 15 people with serious mental illness from institutions to Community $432,898 Transition planning for moving the above 65 people $170,000 2 state office positions to certify and monitor services $148,644 Serve 50 people with DD from the short term waiting list who need services in addition to what they are already receiving $949,031 Aging There are also 84 people from nursing homes, who are being moved using the CCSP program at a projected cost of $421,523. Current Waiting Lists For Services Over 12,000 people are waiting for help, including: 3,142 Georgians with Mental Retardation or Developmental Disabilities 249 people with severe physical disabilities 9,326* frail elderly people *(five year average) New Publication Schedule: Moving Forward will be mailed on paper every other week instead of weekly. Weekly updates of Moving Forward will be available at http://www.gcdd.org/publicpolicy/index.htm If you would like to receive Moving Forward by EMAIL ONLY, please send an email from the account you wish to subscribe with "Moving Forward email only" in the subject line and your first and last name and mailing address in the body of the message so that we can make sure you do not continue to receive paper copies. Send email to ddoughman@dhr.state.ga.us . Do you know who your legislators are? Contact the people who represent you on issues that matter to you. Look up your legislators at http://www.vote-smart.org and type in your zip code in the left column. You can also call and ask at the Secretary of State's office at (404) 656-2971. Correction: In A Quick Review of the Fiscal Year 2003 Budget in our last issue, the Georgia Council for the Hearing Impaired's FY03 allocation of $71,978 was incorrectly listed as an enhancement, when it should have been reported as being restored. Moving Forward is published by the Governor's Council on Developmental Disabilities Phone: 404-657-2126 Toll Free:1-888-ASK-GCDD E-mail: ddoughman@dhr.state.ga.us TDD 404-657-2133 ~ FAX 404-657-2132 You may view Moving Forward each week at our Web Page http://www.gcdd.org To receive Moving Forward via email, send a blank email to ga-advalert-subscribe@egroups.com