Massachusetts State Budget News

The Governor has filed his budget recommendations for the 2011 Fiscal Year (July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011). For those who wish to review the entire budget it can be viewed and downloaded at http://www.mass.gov/bb/h1/fy11h1/index.html

MAMH will use this page to focus on the budget proposed for the Department of Mental Health (DMH), and to provide information on issues related to people with severe and persistent mental illnesses.

BUDGET PROCESS OVERVIEW

For those not familiar with the State Budget Process, here is a quick overview of the process:
The Governor’s proposed budget is generally filed on the last Wednesday in January for the fiscal year beginning July 1st of that year. In the case of a new governor filing his or her first budget proposal additional time is granted and the budget is filed in early to mid-February. The budget filed by the Governor in the first year of the two year legislative session is generally assigned the number HOUSE 1. The budget filed by the Governor in the second year of the 2 year legislative session is assigned the number HOUSE 2.

Once filed, the budget proposal is reviewed by the House Committee on Ways and Means. That Committee will report out its recommended budget generally sometime in April and it will be open for debate and amendments by the House. As a general rule the House passes its version of the budget towards the end of April and that version goes to the Senate where it is referred to the Senate Committee on Ways and Means.

Usually, the Senate Ways and Means Committee will report out its budget recommendation in May and it will be open for debate and amendments in the Senate.Once the Senate passes its version of the budget, and assuming it is different than that passed by the House, both budget documents will be reviewed by a Conference Committee consisting of three members of the House (appointed by the Speaker) and three members of the Senate (appointed by the Senate President.) The Conference Committee membership is generally the Chairs, Vice-Chairs and ranking minority party members of the House and Senate Committees on Ways and Means.

The Conference Committee is charged with the responsibility of resolving all differences between the House and Senate passed budgets. Since the goal is to have a budget in place by July 1^st, the Conference Committee tries to report out its budget proposal (Conference Committee Report) by mid to late June. The Conference Committee Report must be “accepted” by majority votes in both the House and Senate. While it can be and usually is debated, it cannot be amended by either the House or the Senate.

Once the Conference committee Report is accepted by both the House and Senate, it returns to the House for enactment and then to the Senate for enactment. Once enacted by both it goes to the Governor who has the authority to veto an item, to reduce and to propose amendments. The Governor is required to act within ten days.

With respect to any vetoes, the House and Senate have until the end of the legislative session to override a veto and it must be done by a 2/3^rd vote in both branches.

The Budget Table at the end of this text is designed to provide a quick overview of the budgets the Governor and the House Committee on Ways and Means have proposed for DMH. The table will be updated as the budget process continues.

As the Table indicates, the Governor's budget (House 2) consolidated two DMH line-items (Homeless 5046-2000 and Emergency Services 5047-0001) into the Adult services account (5046-000). As a general rule, the Legislature is reluctant to approve account consolidations because it views them as a weakening of its control over expenditures. Thus, it is not surprising that the budget proposed by the House Committee on Ways and Means restablishes these items into separate line-items.

The table also reveals that the most significant reductions proposed by the Governor (and now the House Committee on Ways and Means) are in the Inpatient line-item (5095-0015). This account funds the state hospitals, and the mental health centers. It should be noted that the account was expected to be reduced as a result of the closing of Westborough State Hospital. However, this proposed budget recommends additional reductions in the account.  Our best information is that if left unchanged the cuts proposed by House 2 will be implemented as follows:

• Further reduction of inpatient services through consolidation/facility closure. Westborough State Hospital will be closed by the end of April 2010 and the Quincy Mental Health Center is closed. It is anticipated that the reduction in units and beds will occur across the remaining facilities rather than from the closure of another facility.
• Closure of the partial hospitalization program at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center.
• Elimination of clinical support contracts for Homeless Services. (DMH provides clinical support services to Pine Street Inn, St. Francis House and others. This service would be eliminated.
• Elimination of the Corrigan Mental Health Center (Fall River) Clinic Services. DMH would continue its inpatient services at the Corrigan and Pocasset (Falmouth-Bourne-Pocasset) Mental Health Centers.
On the positive side, the proposed budget:
• Protects clubhouse program funding
• Preserves Community Based Flexible Support Services, which is a critical part of DMH’s Community First Initiative
• Funds the costs of the community placements, which resulted from the movement of “discharge ready” DMH clients from state hospitals and continuing, care facilities into the community.
  

As noted in the summary of the budget process, the next step inthe process is for the House to debate the Committee on Ways and Means proposal and amendments have been filed to increase some of DMH's line-items. 

HOUSE PASSES BUDGET FOR FY 2011

The House has passed its version of the budget.  The House did not add any money to the DMH budget as proposed by its Ways and Neans Committee.  As a result, the projected cuts noted above are still on the table.

The budget is now before thE Senate Committee on Ways and Means, which is expected to announced its recommendations during the week of May 17, 2010.

SENATE BUDGET ADDS $10 MILLION TO DMH BUDGET

The Senate passed its version of the FY 2011 budget and adopted teh recommendations of its Committee on Ways and Means withrespect to the Department of Mental Health.  The Seante proposal is approximately $10 Million higher than that proposed by the Governor and the House.  The additional money was placed in DMH's inpatient account.  "The budget passed by the Senate for the Department of Mental Health not only stops the bleeding, but also restores the life blood of programs across the Commonwealth, and hope for those of our citizens who suffer with severe and persistent mental illnesses," said Bernie Carey, Executive Director of MAMH in a letter thanking Senate President Therese Murray. 

BUDGET CONFERENCE COMMITTEE REPORTS FY 2011 RECOMMENDATIONS

The Conference Committee appointed to reconcile the FY 2011 Budget recommendation passed by the House and Senate has issued its report. The report cannot be amended, and once approved by both the House and Senate, it will be enacted by both branches and sent to the Governor. The vote to accept the Report is expected Thursday or Friday (June 24, 25, 2010) the Fiscal Year begins July 1, 2010.

The budget-making task was complicated by reason of the fact the US Congress has not yet voted to extend certain federal payments, and this results in nearly a $700 million loss of revenue for Massachusetts. The conference committee budget proposes to make this up by taking another $100 Million from the state’s stabilization fund and the balance by initiating cuts across the budget.

Because the Congress may yet vote to send the funds, or a portion thereof to the states, the Conference Committee indicated in its budget recommendations the amount to be funded through the general fund (the Commonwealth’s Treasury) and what additional amount agencies may receive when and if the federal funds are received.

Given the dire fiscal circumstances, DMH fared well with the Conference Committee. In the Update table below, we have set forth for each of DMH’s budget accounts, the total amount recommended for appropriation, the amount to funded from the General Fund (GF) and the amount to be funded if the federal funds (FMAP) are received. You will note that some of DMH’s accounts are totally funded from the General Fund. Accordingly, with respect to those accounts the federal uncertainty issue is not present. However, given the economic uncertainly, there is uncertainty even with respect to account funded entirely from the General Fund since the Governor may, if necessary impose 9C cuts.

GOVERNOR SIGNS FY 2011 BUDGET BUT VETOS ALL FMAP FUNDING


Governor Patrick signed a state budget for FY 2011 (July 1, 2010 – June 30, 2011), after vetoing over $450 Million in funding measures and all of the proposed appropriations that were contingent upon receipt of federal funds arising from any extension of the Federal Medical Assistance Percentages (FMAP).  The revised table (below) indicates the budget signed by the Governor, after the FMAP vetoes.  It is unclear whether or not the Legislature will attempt to override the FMAP veto.  However, since it is not clear that the FMAP funding will ever be received, or if it is, what the amount will be, the conventional wisdom is that the Legislature will not override the FMAP vetoes.

Item	Governor’s Recommendation	House Passed Budget	Senate Passed Budget	Conference Committee	Budget signed by Governor
5011-0100 Admin.	27,375,404	27,180.686	27,441,982	27,148,707 GF: 26,740,933 FMAP: 407,774	26,740,933
5042-5000 Child &Adol.	72,173,509	72,183,596	72,173,509	72,173,509 GF 71,773,667 FMAP: 399,842	71,773,667
5046-0000 Adult	380,012,325	325,755,802	325,755,802	325,755,802 GF: 323,755,661 FMAP: 2,000,141	323,755,661
5046-2000 Homeless	Included in 5046-0000	20,134,424	20,134,424	20,134,424	20,134,424
5046-4000 Choice	125,000	125,000	125,000	125,000	125,000
5047-0001 Emerg, Services	Included in 5046-0000	34,122,197	34,122,197	34,122,197	34,122,197
5055-0000 Forensic	8,081,928	8,081,928	8,081,928	8,081,928	8,081,928
5095-0015 Inpatient	133,974,213	133,974,213	143,900,803	143,900,803 GF: 137,474,193 FMAP: 6,426,610	137,474,193
Totals	621,742,397	621,557,846	631,735,645	631,442,370 GF622,208,003 FMAP: 9,234,367	622,208,003

MAMH will update this page & table as more information becomes available.  We will also provide whatever information we receive as to what spending cuts DMH intends to initiate as a result of the cuts refelcted in this budget.