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Next piece of budget moves

• Published January 26, 2009

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House Democrats unveiled their plans for the supplemental budget today, saying its not a budget, but a program-by-program plan to cut total spending by $640 million. It's called the "Early Action Savings Bill."

Quick impressions: they keep the pledge to "cover all kids" by subsidizing families up to three times the poverty level. Gregoire wanted to freeze it at 250 percent. They keep adult day health, but reduce the vendor rate. Indeed, many vendor rates are down including boarding homes and nursing homes, those two down by an average 3 percent.

What I've come to think of as the Obama money is in there at the same rate: $780 billion in increased federal matching funds for Medicaid. And the welfare grants: $133 million in contingency funds.

Family leave is still suspended, the Basic Health Plan continues to allow one new client for every two that leave the plan.

Overall, it’s a fairly detailed non-budget bill. Much more so than the ’09 supplemental rolled out in December, which relied a lot ofn "Governor Directed 1% cut" to describe reductions. But there is still some hazy budget fog.

Item 158 is my favorite: $330,000 in "General" reductions in Juvenile Rehabilitation.

Look it up in the back and this is how it's explained: "GENERAL - This item includes across the board reductions to contracts and goods and services."

OK then.

I've included the item list with this post.