Between the lines: Lawmakers wrapping up

Approval of $5.3 billion state budget getting close

State lawmakers are supposed to wrap up a $5.3 billion budget this week, leaving some interests in good stead and others still wanting.

That's the way the process always works. There is never enough money to meet all the spending requests. Nor should there be.

But whatever the agreed-upon budget is, it is supposed to reflect the collective input of the governor, his staff and the Legislature.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson will apparently come away from this fiscal session with most of what he wanted in this budget, most notably the funding to continue an expanded Medicaid program.

It will now be called Arkansas Works and, like its predecessor, the "private option," will use federal dollars made available through the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, to buy private insurance for qualifying Arkansans.

The restructured program will include, if allowed by the federal government, some alternations aimed at holding down the state's eventual share of program costs. Arkansas will begin paying 5 percent of the cost in 2017 and must pay as much as 10 percent by 2020.

The bottom line here is that Arkansas Works survived and the more than 250,000 lower-income Arkansans who are being covered now can still have insurance.

Gov. Hutchinson's office put out a statement that his priority goals had been met. He wanted a balanced budget that includes Arkansas Works. And he wanted an increase in funding for state foster care needs.

That funding, too, made the cut in the proposed Revenue Stabilization Act, the end-of-session budget bill that locks in spending priorities.

The legislation literally categorizes anticipated spending, defining what should be funded in what order if projected revenue fails to cover all appropriations.

All of the spending priorities are placed in one of two categories, with Category B being funded only after Category A is fully funded. Just under $128 million of the total is in Category B.

Remember, this is a $5.3 billion budget, designating spending for all of the different aspects of state government.

That's a lot of money going in a lot of different directions. As usual, the focus of lawmakers seemed to be on those parts of the budget for which increases were sought.

Only $142.7 million of that $5.3 billion is new spending for fiscal 2017, which begins July 1.

There is new money for public schools and for the Department of Human Services. The schools will get an additional $27.3 million. DHS will get $88 million more for Medicaid and $20 million more for the Division of Child and Family Services plus $3.5 million more for the Division of Behavioral Health Services.

Unfortunately, the budget does not have money for an expanded pre-kindergarten program, a long-standing goal of education advocates.

There will be a $13.8 million increase in the state's rainy-day fund, which already has $31 million in it.

Included in rainy-day funds is $1 million more each in state aid for public libraries and for senior citizens centers.

But that boost in rainy-day funding is also key to Gov. Hutchinson's plan for provide new funding for state highways.

This budget, he said, lays the foundation for meeting short-term highway needs without raising taxes.

Getting that done is going to take another legislative session, the third lawmakers will have had to attend this year.

First they had a brief special session to authorize changes to the Medicaid expansion program. Now they are in the fourth week of the fiscal session but barreling toward conclusion.

Both chambers of the Legislature are expected to vote on identical versions of the Revenue Stabilization Act as soon as today, which would allow lawmakers to finish the fiscal session by week's end.

That timetable presumes both houses will pass the other's bill without additional changes.

Then lawmakers will get a brief break before Hutchinson is expected to call them back yet again to deal with highway funding.

Commentary on 05/04/2016

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