Agency Approp. Bill Breakdown - SB 2012 (DHHS)

It’s the first day back from Legislative Recess! All active bills that have passed their chamber of origin will now be worked on in the opposite chamber. We’ve covered a bill’s path before. “Crossover” is a physical marker in time to judge progression of work. The first week back will start much like the first week of Session did in January with agency bills.
 
Agency appropriation bills (think DOT, Commerce, DPI, HP, CTE, Dept. of Ag, Higher Ed) start with the Appropriation Committees to provide initial overview hearings from these government departments. Each chamber will compare where the agency budget currently stands compared to their original bases with initiatives from the Governor’s Budget. GNDC has been watching the progression of these bills from the sidelines. We know that outcomes and allocations are important to our membership but we also are slow to report back because much of the work is worked out in period 3, after the second chamber’s work is complete. 

Another lens that will impact discussions moving forward is the updated revenue forecasts – which are set to come out soon. These will put context and data into the discussions to plan for the future.
 
GNDC watches specific agency appropriations as they align with our Policy Positions. We’ll provide some bill breakdowns of where things stand.
 
BILL BREAKDOWN:SB 2012: ND Dept. of Health & Human Services
This is a massive bill with many parts and pieces – we have specifically been tracking the childcare pieces because this is a major impact to workforce.

• $1M: one-time funding to continue to automate the criminal background check process
• $22M: funding to increase the utilization of the childcare assistance program for children ages 0 to 3
• $12.9M: funding to improve the ability of low-income parents to obtain childcare
• $12M: expands the “Best in Class” program
• $2M: funding for early childhood career grants
• $236,905: 1 FTE program administrator for early childhood programs
• $3M: one-time funding to increase capacity for the early childhood rating infrastructure
• $3M: add one-time funding to create quality tiers in the childcare reimbursement program
• $1M: expands public-private childcare benefits using one-time funding from the Legacy Earnings Fund
• $5M: provides childcare business operating grants using one-time funding from the Legacy Earnings Fund
• $1M: a pilot program for childcare during nontraditional hours using one-time funding from the Legacy Earnings Fund
• $2,491,435: Increased federal funds authority for the childcare and development fund
• Provides for a Legislative Management study of early childhood programs (SHALL) 

Total Listed: $65,628,340

A couple weeks back, we reported on the “Hogan-5 pack.” Almost all of these have passed through the Senate, some by the skin of their teeth. SB 2323, which expanded some age and income-based programming (Best in Class and Headstart), failed to pass. It should be noted that the "Best in Class" program funding is addressed in the agency appropriation.