In the last week of deadlines, committees worked feverishly to pass appropriation bills through the Finance Committee. The Senate and House passed supplemental budget bills out of their respective committees. Floor sessions will take up most of this week, cutting into committee action. The Senate is scheduled to debate the capital investment, tax, and supplemental budget bills. With May just one month away, legislators are working at a fast clip to get all their work done on time.

Health Care Reform Bill Faces Hurdles in the Senate

After much anticipation, last week the Senate debated its health care reform bill, S.F. 3099, authored by Sen. Linda Berglin (DFL-Minneapolis). Despite a final vote of 39-23, the health care reform package faced bipartisan scrutiny and opposition Thursday as members debated the language for more than four hours.

According to Berglin, the bill will insure 47,000 additional Minnesotans and is designed to improve health care outcomes. “The goal is to prevent people from needing health care,” said Berglin. S.F. 3099 creates a statewide health improvement plan, imposes a public health improvement assessment on hospitals and health plans, creates a health insurance exchange, restructures the health care payment system, and addresses health care availability and affordability through the reduction of administrative costs in the payment system.

Another important component of the bill is the establishment of the health care home model, aimed at patients with chronic care conditions such as diabetes. The health care home model applies a patient-centered approach to provide a continuum of care. Under the bill, providers are rewarded financially for implementing and using the health care home model.

The most contentious part of the debate occurred when Sen. John Marty (DFL-Roseville) offered an amendment to remove the Health Care Transformation Commission provisions and provide for a study to review the efficacy and costs of reforms. He said despite a number of positive elements of the bill, the creation of new bureaucracy in the system may actually increase costs. Despite a very heated and thorough discussion of the amendment, it failed on a 32-33 roll call vote.

The Senate bill will be sent to the House, where they still wait to debate their own health care reform legislation, possibly later this week.

To read more about the Senate’s health care reform bill, go to http://www.startribune.com/politics/state/17069421.html

House and Senate Finance Bills Head to the Floor

The House and Senate Finance Committees heard division appropriation bills this week, moving the supplemental budget bills one step closer to a floor vote. H.F. 1812, authored by Rep. Lyndon Carlson (DFL-Crystal), consolidates eleven budget bills including the transportation, K 12 education, health and human services, workforce development, and public safety bills. Each budget division was given a target to meet in order to address the $935 million biennial deficit. The House supplemental budget bill was scheduled to be heard in the House Tax Committee on March 31st and will be heard in Ways and Means before a vote on the House floor.

The Senate Finance Committee passed its Finance Omnibus bill on Friday. The committee spent more than five hours reviewing fiscal spreadsheets for each of the eleven budget bills. The largest part of the discussion occurred when Sen. Linda Berglin (DFL-Minneapolis) reviewed the health and human services budget. Despite a number of cuts in services and programs, the bill makes no reductions to nursing homes, public health care subsidies, or mental health programs. It also keeps the Health Care Access Fund intact. The bill also removes the cap on the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, delays rebasing of operating-cost payment rates, provides for supported work for Minnesota Family Investment Program participants, and reduces in fee-for-service payments.

The Finance Omnibus bill reduces general fund spending by $382 million, uses $100 million from the budget reserve, $350 million from the cash flow account, and increases revenue by $150 million. The bill passed 11-3 and was re-referred to the Tax Committee where it will be discussed before heading to the floor in what is likely to be a long and lively floor debate.

Victim’s Compensation Fund Moves Closer to Compromise

A conference committee began meeting last week to work out differences between the House and Senate versions of a victim’s compensation fund for the I-35W bridge collapse victims. The Senate bill currently caps payments to individuals at $400,000 with a total appropriation for all victims of $26 million. The House bill provides no individual cap for compensation and an overall cap of $40 million. Both bills would require any victim receiving funds from the state to relinquish their rights to sue.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty has said he supports the Senate individual cap but understands that the current appropriation of $400,000 may not fully compensate for medical expenses. It is likely the individual cap will be increased as a compromise between the House and Senate bills. The conference committee will continue to meet this week and should produce a final bill by the end of the week.

Important Dates

May 19 - Last Day of Session