CCAP Trademarked Logo

Number 1
January 8, 2016

www.pacounties.org

LEGISLATIVE BULLETIN

An e-newsletter of the County Commissioners

Association of Pennsylvania

Serving Counties Since 1886

In This Issue

Governor Approves FY 2015-2016 Budget with Line Item Vetoes

Department of Treasury Expediting Payments

Revenue Trends Report Released

DHS Announces Pending Change to Medicaid System for Released Inmates

Court Strikes Down Lifetime Employment Bans for Criminal Convictions

2015 County Priorities Final Status Report

2016 County Priorities to be Announced

Quick Links

CCAP Website

Government Relations

Contacts

:: 717-526-1010

GOVERNOR APPROVES FY 2015-2016 BUDGET WITH LINE ITEM VETOES

On Dec. 29, Gov. Wolf signed a commonwealth FY 2015-2016 general appropriations budget bill, HB 1460, which had been sent to him by the House and Senate before Christmas. House Bill 1460 is a 12-month, $30.2 billion budget, less than the $30.8 billion framework budget that had been previously amended into the same bill, and less than the $31.6 billion budget proposed by the Governor last March.

In enacting HB 1460, Gov. Wolf exercised a number of line-item vetoes to reduce and eliminate certain lines, noting in his veto message that while disapproving of the unbalanced nature of the budget and amounts appropriated for education funding, his action would allow funds to get out to schools, counties and human services providers. Chief among the vetoes was a 50 percent cut in the basic education line, allowing schools to receive just the first six months of funding for the fiscal year. For counties, though, none of the primary lines are cut, so the full amount of state and federal funding allocated in the bill will be available for release.

The enacted version of the budget fails to include the first year of a restoration of the 10 percent reduction to the line items in the Human Services Block Grant funding for the Human Services Block Grant ($28 million for FY 2015-2016), a CCAP priority, and so the lines are flat funded compared to FY 2014-2015. It does include the rebalancing initiative for children and youth, whose implementation will be dependent on the language contained in amendments to Fiscal Code legislation in HB 1327, still pending before the House. Similarly, there is no separate line item in the budget for county, school, municipal and non-profit recovery of interest, but this could be pending as part of the Fiscal Code deliberations. Recovery of interest paid, or foregone interest earned, was another of counties' top asks as part of the final FY 2015-2016 budget agreement.

The legislative intent and timing for dealing with the FY 2015-2016 line item vetoes is unclear, as is the legislative intent to deal with revenue increases or other issues that had been on the table as key budget deliberation components over the last six months, such as reform of the state employee pension systems and privatization of the state liquor system.

Relatedly, Standard & Poor's released a statement that the enactment of a partial budget for FY 2015-2016 does not resolve Pennsylvania's fiscal challenges. S&P notes it is waiting for further developments on a corresponding revenue package and to better understand whether pension reform will be part of a final budget, having previously indicated that it could consider a negative rating action or outlook if the state fails to address its budgetary imbalance or its pension liabilities.

The House is scheduled to reconvene on Jan. 11 and media reports indicate that chamber will be considering the Fiscal Code legislation as well as funding bills related to the state-related universities. The Senate will return to session Jan. 19, and the Governor's FY 2016-2017 budget address has been scheduled for Feb. 9.

Additional information is provided on CCAP's Budget News and Updates web page as it becomes available.

DEPARTMENT OF TREASURY EXPEDITING PAYMENTS

Following the enactment of the FY 2015-2016 budget on Dec. 29, the Pennsylvania Treasury announced that it would be expediting the distribution of approved funds to school districts, counties, and human services organizations, with funding expected to flow during the week of January 4.

The press release issued by the Treasury Department on Dec. 30 noted that it had received payment requests from the Office of the Budget for approximately 16,400 delayed payments that all together total $3.3 billion. While a payment request generally takes ten business days for processing, Treasury has worked with the Office of the Budget during the impasse to identify and pre-audit thousands of payments, and is further working with the Office to process the remaining delayed payments. Treasury expected the entire backlog to be sent out within approximately two weeks, and at the time this Bulletin was published, counties have already reported receiving funding.

The full press release, which contains contact information for vendors seeking the status of outstanding FY 2015-2016 invoices, can be found on CCAP's Budget News and Updates web page. CCAP is also working to compile information regarding timing of payments for specific programs, which will be posted to the Budget News and Updates page as soon as available.

REVENUE TRENDS REPORT RELEASED

The state's Independent Fiscal Office has released its preliminary overview comparing General Fund revenue collections to the Office's estimates for FY 2015-2016. Through the second quarter of the fiscal year (through December), General Fund revenues were $168 million above estimates, and $94 million above estimates for just the second quarter (October through December).

These totals come largely from personal income tax revenues that exceeded expectations by more than $46 million through December, as well as realty transfer taxes that were above estimate by $20 million and inheritance taxes above estimate by $19 million. Other revenues, such as those from the corporate net income tax and non-motor sales tax collections, are currently below estimate; some $47 million and $20 million, respectively. Compared to December 2014, December 2015 General Fund revenues of $2.73 billion increased by $15 million (0.5 percent).

Full reports can be found at www.ifo.state.pa.us.

DHS ANNOUNCES PENDING CHANGE TO MEDICAID SYSTEM FOR RELEASED INMATES

State Department of Human Services (DHS) Secretary Ted Dallas recently announced that his agency will be moving to change its current policy of terminating Medicaid enrollment for prisoners in state facilities to suspending Medicaid enrollment, expected to occur by the middle of the year.

Under the existing system, the process to re-enroll for Medicaid benefits when an inmate is released can take up to 30 days, disrupting continuity of treatment and access to medications and therapy services. Suspension will help ease the transition for inmates that are addicted to drugs by reducing or eliminating the re-enrollment waiting period, allowing such inmates to receive services with little or no interruption on release. Immediate access to inpatient or outpatient care, counseling or medication can ultimately improve recovery as well as chances against recidivating. The Department will also undertake educational efforts to ensure individuals leaving a correctional facility are aware that they can receive care from a county assistance office.

While the change will initially affect only state inmates, DHS indicated that it intends to expand the program to county jails in the future. Counties support this policy change as part of their 2015 priority to address the issue of inmates with mental health and substance abuse issues, and will continue to work with DHS to explore other means of assuring county inmates are able to take advantage of rapid enrollment in Medicaid on release.

COURT STRIKES DOWN LIFETIME EMPLOYMENT BANS FOR CRIMINAL CONVICTIONS

On Dec. 30, the Commonwealth Court issued a decision in which it determined that lifetime bans to employment following convictions for certain crimes are unconstitutional. The case, Peake v. Commonwealth of PA, specifically challenged the constitutionality of provisions of the Older Adult Protective Services Act that apply such bans to working with older adults. The ruling is the most recent in a series of cases that has consistently struck down irrebuttable statutory presumptions such as mandatory driver's license suspension, lifetime registration of juvenile sexual offenders, employment bans for criminal convictions under the Child Protective Services Law, and employment bans for criminal conviction under the Public School Code.

The case may have implications for county child welfare; Act 153 of 2014 required the state departments of Human Services and Education, together with the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency, to convene a workgroup and file a report with the General Assembly regarding recommendations for the length of time bans should be in place for those working with children. That report was filed just before the decision was issued in the Peake case, and preliminarily contains recommendations for lifetime employment bans for many of the criminal convictions enumerated in the Child Protective Services Law and the Public School Code. However, based on the Peake case and other case law, revisions to existing laws may be needed to bring them in line with constitutional protections.

2015 COUNTY PRIORITIES FINAL STATUS REPORT

With the close of 2015, CCAP has prepared a final status report on its priorities for the year, highlighting a year of accomplishments on a number of different fronts. Counties were successful in achieving their top priority, 911 Services System Reform, with the passage of a comprehensive rewrite of the Public Safety Emergency Telephone Act as Act 12 of 2015. The first payment of the new fee was made to counties the week of Nov. 2, and the new 911 Board held its initial meeting in December.

More detail on the Association's activities pertaining to the 2015 priorities, covering issues from maintaining the shale gas impact fee to human services funding to hotel tax legislation, is available in the report, which can be found at www.pacounties.org under What's New.

2016 COUNTY PRIORITIES TO BE ANNOUNCED

On Monday, Jan. 25, CCAP officers will unveil county 2015 legislative priorities with a press conference at 2 p.m. at the state Capitol in Harrisburg. Fact sheets, talking points and other materials providing more detail on the priorities will be available at www.pacounties.org under What's New beginning on Jan. 25.

About Us Terms of Service Privacy Policy