The state budget outline is getting clearer. I recently joined my Republican colleagues in the House to announce our plan for the 2004-05 budget. It tackles the state’s $4.2 billion projected deficit &045; without calling for state tax increases &045; and addresses some of the concerns raised by citizens since Gov. Tim Pawlenty first released his budget months ago.

This past week, House finance committees approved omnibus bills for their budget areas. Perhaps the most telling difference between the governor’s budget and the House budget proposal appears in the House Health & Human Services Omnibus Bill.

The HHS bill preserves funding for nursing homes that was cut by the governor, and restores approximately $5 million for other programs serving seniors, including Senior Agenda for Independent Living (SAIL), Senior Congregate Dining, Senior Nutrition (Meals on Wheels), Foster Grandparent, Senior Companion, and Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP).

The bill also fully funds the state’s adult foster-care providers program which serves one our state’s most vulnerable populations &045; the developmentally disabled. It also fully funds the personal-care attendant (PCA) services programs, which serves people who otherwise would be placed in a nursing home or an assisted living facility. And the bill restores funding for pharmacy reimbursements for prescriptions filled for individuals on public health care programs. In total, the bill restores about $170 million in program funding cut by the governor while adopting program reforms. No one area of the budget received as much comment and concern from the public as were proposed reductions in HHS programs. The House proposal goes far to address many of those concerns.

Right now, finance committees are busy working on the individual budgets for each issue area, and these proposals will be ready to come the House floor for a vote in the next couple of weeks. Then House and Senate conferees will meet to find a compromise. I am hopeful that the legislature can finish its business by the scheduled May 19 adjournment date.

I hope you all are having a very happy Easter holiday!

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Got a question or concern? Write me at 579 State Office Building, 100 Constitution Ave., St. Paul, MN 55155, or call me, toll-free, at 1-877-377-9441. My e-mail address is rep.dan.dorman@house.mn.

Rep. Dan Dorman, R-Albert Lea, represents District 27A, which includes Freeborn County and part of Mower County, in the Minnesota House of Representatives.