Dayton commissioners take issue with House human services plan

In a letter to Rep. Jim Abeler, R-Anoka, two members of DFL Gov. Mark Dayton's cabinet express "strong concerns" about more than $1 billion of spending cuts contained in the House health and human services budget bill.

Abeler chairs the House Health and Human Services Finance Committee and released details of the bill earlier this week.

Human services commissioner Lucinda Jesson and Minnesota Management and Budget Commissioner Jim Schowalter note that some key provisions of the bill were not analyzed by their departments for their fiscal impact. They write that "passing legislation without a real understanding of the fiscal details related to such an enormous portion of spending puts the fiscal stability of our state in serious jeopardy."

Their specific areas of concern include a $483 million proposal to hold spending for elderly and disabled services at current levels; a request for permission from the federal government to reduce Medicaid spending by $300 million; a $216 million dollar plan to reduce health care services for adults without children and the elderly disabled; and $293 million in reductions to health care providers.

Here's the letter:

3.23.11 Final_MMB_letter to Abeler_Hann

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