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State Representative Paul Anderson
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
651-296-4317
For more information contact: House GOP Communications 651-296-5520
GUEST COLUMN
Budget shortfall addressed in three phases
Notes From the Capitol
By State Rep. Paul Anderson
The task of reducing state government spending has ramped up with reduction targets for most state spending finally being released. It would appear the Legislature is approaching the situation in phases. The smaller agencies will come up with their reductions first, followed by the Departments of Health and Human Services. Finally, K-12 education will be looked at for possible budget reductions.
The Agriculture and Veterans’ Affairs Committee met March 10 and discussed the target it was given by House leadership and how it would be achieved. The overall cut to the Dept. of Agriculture was set at 7.9 percent, more than double what the governor had recommended. In hard dollars, the cut represents $6.7 million to an agency that totals one-half of one percent of the state budget. It seems that, once again, agriculture is being called upon to come up with more than its share of cuts.
Commissioner Gene Hugoson testified before our committee and admitted that “tough decisions need to be made.” He added, “These cuts in the House are significantly more than the governor proposed. I am especially concerned with the reduction to the Plant Protection Program.”
These proposed cuts, if enacted, would do away with programs to fight Emerald Ash Bore and Gypsy Moth. It is hoped the DNR would be able to continue the fight against those two pests.
In the game-and-fish bill making its way through the committee process is a somewhat controversial item, one that establishes a five-year moratorium on building public accesses on lakes that currently do not have such facilities. The intent is to slow down and/or stop the spread of invasive species into lakes that don’t have places for the public to launch boats. We were told in Environmental Policy Committee our state has about 3,500 lakes that don’t have a public access.
A solution appears to have been reached concerning the GAMC health coverage issue. As I expressed in this column last week, the hope was that further negotiation would result in a better solution to the problem of caring for this group of residents. It was announced March 5 that an agreement had been reached by legislative leaders and the governor’s office on a new program setting up Coordinated Care Organizations (CCO’s) that would receive a set amount of funding to care for the GAMC patients.
Nearly three-quarters of GAMC patients are seen in the metro area, with most of those at Regions Hospital and Hennepin County Medical Center. The vast majority are seen at 12 hospitals around the state.
Under this new plan, the hospitals that serve most of the patients would set up the new CCO’s. By agreeing to this, they would assume the cost of caring for GAMC patients and have the incentive to find the most appropriate program the patients qualifies for (VA, MnCare, or Medical Assistance, for example) and make sure they get it. There would also be a pool of money for the patients themselves as well as their medicines.
For all other hospitals, there would be a $20 million pool set up for them to receive payment for any GAMC claims they have. It’s the intent that these hospitals will eventually become CCO’s or form agreements with other existing systems within the next year.
Although there has been an agreement in principal, the proposal still must be acted upon by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Pawlenty.
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Rep. Anderson encourages constituents to contact his office with input regarding any state legislative issue. He can be reached on the web at www.house.mn/13A and via email at rep.paul.anderson@house.mn. To contact Anderson by phone, call (651) 296-4317. Mail can be sent to Rep. Paul Anderson, 239 State Office Building, 100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., St. Paul, Minnesota 55155.
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