Senate Health & Welfare probes H.938 fiscal breakdown; questions on hotel, shelter and eligibility staffing

The Senate Health & Welfare committee reviewed fiscal details of H.938 during a meeting on May 5, focusing on how the House and governor reallocated money across funding buckets while keeping the same bottom-line totals.

Committee members examined a table comparing the governor's recommendation, the House-passed version and resulting deltas across base general fund, one-time general fund, federal/social funds and Global Commitment Medicaid funding. The chair said the House and governor "aimed to keep the same bottom-line totals while moving things around based on priorities." The table showed some line-item increases and decreases but a zero net delta at the bottom line.

Members asked how key numbers were derived and raised particular concern about hotel-and-motel spending. A committee member asked, "How does that compare with last year, Noel?" Staff replied that the state fiscal-year budgeted amount for hotels and motels for 2026 is $32.6 million.

The committee also pressed for clarity on "eligibility staffing." Melinda Gray, deputy director of the Economic Services Division at DCF, explained that "eligibility staffing" are the staff who determine whether someone qualifies for general assistance or a hotel/motel placement under the bill and who coordinate with hotels and motels to secure rooms; "case management" staff provide on-the-ground assistance connecting people to services. "Eligibility staffing are those that engage with the—one, determine if someone is eligible for a GA or hotel or motel... And then they're the ones that are engaging with the hotels and motels to say, do you have a room that's available?" Gray said.

Lily So Turner, director of the Office of Economic Opportunity at the Department for Children and Families, described the department's housing programs, saying family supportive housing contracts with community providers statewide and that the permanent supportive housing assistance program is a newer Medicaid-funded effort. Turner said the Medicaid program currently "supports providers in six communities" and has capacity for "just over 100 households"; it is not yet statewide.

Committee members noted there are links across several appropriations—some one-time, some base—and asked for more detailed walk-throughs in future sessions. The committee scheduled further review and confirmed that H.938 was on the committee agenda the next morning at 9:00 for additional markup.

The committee did not take a formal vote on H.938 during this meeting; staff and agency representatives were asked to return with more detailed allocations and justifications.