April 6, 2023

Stark Differences in Human Services Omnibus Bills as Minnesota Legislators Begin Week-Long Break

On April 6, 2023 by LeadingAge

On Monday, the Senate Human Services Committee passed its omnibus finance bill with key differences from the House’s version.

A snapshot of items related to aging services include:

• $37 million per year in SFY24-25 for nursing home increases; funding is dedicated to wages and benefits. By contrast, both the House and the Governor propose only $4 million for critical access nursing homes.
• $140 million for Elderly Waiver of $140 million, raising phase-in to 27.8%. This is a lower funding amount than the House position, which reflects close to 100% of the phase-in. However:
  • The bill expands eligibility for EW CL disproportionate share
  • Provides additional phase-in rate increase for customized living under CADI/BI CL providers from 10% to 21.6%
• Includes $1 million in Assisted Living Closure Grants (also a Governor’s proposal)
• PACE rate study (also carried in House, not in Governor’s budget)
• $4 million for Critical Access Nursing Home grants (In House and Governor’s budget)
• A new concept to dedicate unspent revenue from this budget into a special revenue account called a LTC Access Fund.
• Does not include:
  • Fix for 21-month delay for nursing homes

What happens next?

The Minnesota Legislature will be in recess until April 11, with legislators returning to their districts and communities.

The pace of this session has been unprecedented: as far back as 1983, no chamber has exceeded 3,000 bill introductions in one session year. Yet both the House and Senate crossed that threshold last month. Pre-session statements by the DFL majorities about the desire to pass more individual bills rather than loading up large omnibus bills did not produce much of a change in behavior – legislators have put together large omnibus bills chock full of finance and policy provisions, just as their predecessors in both parties have done.

All omnibus finance bills have now passed to House Ways and Means or Senate Finance Committees, where they will be processed and passed to their respective floors for action in the coming weeks. Though most omnibus bills will require conference committee work, the process will look a bit different this year as the House, Senate, and Walz Administration already agreed to joint targets. Given that leaders left surplus funds on the bottom line, there may be adjustments to certain targets as the session progresses toward a final resolution of the budget bills. 

Following the break, the House and Senate Tax committees will put together their omnibus bills, which are expected to look very different despite their joint budget target. All omnibus bills must be finalized and passed before the May 22 constitutionally required adjournment date.

LeadingAge Minnesota and its Imperative partner will continue to pursue improvements to the Legislature’s Human Services Omnibus Bills to ensure that seniors and their caregivers are part of One Minnesota.