Senate staff summarize more than 200 member amendments affecting Health and Human Resources budgets

Senate staff told the Finance and Appropriations HHR subcommittee that members submitted more than 200 budget amendments affecting agencies in the Health and Human Resources portfolio and provided a high‑level grouping of the most significant requests.

At a glance: "There are more than 200 amendments just for HHR," staff member Mike told the subcommittee. Staff described three broad categories: rate increases (notably personal care and DD waiver rates), Medicaid coverage expansions and restorations of proposed savings. Examples cited by staff include a roughly $550 million package to expand Medicaid coverage, about $440 million to restore proposed DMAS savings, and a $3.9 billion total general‑fund request across the HHR biennium packet as presented to members.

Agency highlights from staff summary: For VDH, staff said there were roughly $30 million in general‑fund requests over the biennium, including $93 million (presented as a category) for water infrastructure grants and roughly $90 million for Ryan White HIV services in amendment requests. For DBHDS, staff summarized roughly $123 million in requests for the biennium—largely program expansions such as permanent supportive housing, discharge planning and Marcus Alert funding completion. DSS, DARS and CSA amendment totals were presented as well with specific request amounts for SNAP, child welfare improvements and area agencies on aging.

Process note: Staff emphasized that a detailed spreadsheet of member amendments is in packets for committee review and that the subcommittee will prioritize the requests in coming weeks. They also noted some amendments are duplicative or overlap on similar topics and that some items are language‑only.

Next steps: The subcommittee will review the packeted amendments and determine prioritization and funding outcomes over the next weeks of the session.