Joint Budget Committee trims BHA administration, orders long‑bill consolidation and asks for deeper review

Emily Pope, JBC staff, opened the Joint Budget Committee’s figure‑setting session on the Department of Human Services by laying out staff recommendations that are roughly $11.6 million general fund below the department’s request for behavioral‑health items. She told members the BHA brought more than 30 requests and staff added about 15 options for committee consideration. "This is your last DHS presentation," Pope said as she guided members through the summary tables and fiscal options.

Pope recommended a set of administrative reductions the BHA proposed, including R1 — a $550,000 general‑fund reduction and elimination of 4.0 FTE tied to positions the BHA said overlap with BOSO responsibilities (one contract administrator, two care coordinators, one engagement specialist) — plus an additional $125,000 IT trimming as systems move from development to maintenance. Vice Chair Bridges moved the staff recommendation for R1; the motion passed 6–0.

Staff also proposed a one‑time refinance of $1.0 million general fund to cash funds in the BHA administrative line to smooth temporary cash balances. Pope said two BHA cash funds show excess uncommitted reserves and staff brought the refinance again as a one‑time balancing tool; the committee approved the refinance 6–0.

Beyond individual reductions, Pope presented a recommended long‑bill restructure for the BHA: split certain administrative costs into clearer line items and consolidate BOSO‑related funding into fewer buckets so appropriations better reflect current operations and align with federal block‑grant structure. Pope said the previous bill structure replicated older OBH line items and created silos that make it hard to see how reductions affect providers and patients. "Providers are trying to stay within their appropriation and their contract. Each BOSO is trying to stay within theirs. It leads to administrative inefficiencies," she said.

Committee members supported further work and reporting rather than broad immediate eliminations. Several lawmakers urged caution about layoffs or removing statutory responsibilities; others called for a working group or an RFI to gather more precise data on how many positions are truly duplicative and what service impacts would be expected. Pope agreed to continue stakeholder engagement and reporting during the interim; the committee approved staff‑initiated consolidation, directing additional reporting and an RFI to refine the proposals.

The committee’s actions on administrative trimming, refinance, and consolidation set the direction for deeper analysis this spring and the interim. Committee members stressed they wanted options that preserve access to services while identifying genuine administrative savings; staff committed to return with more exact FTE and spending‑flow details if members want to pursue further structural change.