MACo BRFA Comments Highlight HUR, Community Colleges, Disparity Grants, Local Health

On February 28, 2024, Executive Director Michael Sanderson testified before the House Appropriations Committee to support HB 352- Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act of 2024 with amendments. This bill is the Budget Reconciliation and Financing Act (BRFA), reconciling various provisions incorporated into the Administration’s fiscal 2025 plan, bringing the proposed budget into balance for the year.

During the lengthy hearing on the far-reaching bill (which affects numerous statutory changes needed to balance the State budget), Mr. Sanderson highlighted several areas within the budget and fiscal plan that had meaningful county effects. He offered recommendations (that are spelled out in more detail in MACo’s written testimony):

  • Permanent changes to the Cade formula funding Community Colleges upend a strong, years-long policy to support these essential institutions: “It’s state funding versus tuition.”
  • Highway User Revenues to support local transportation are cut in the proposed BRFA, but only for FY 2026 and FY 2027 – he urged the Committee to remove those cuts and “take everything together next year, you’ll have the TRAIN Commission recommendations, and you can have a whole plan then.”
  • Local Health Department funding is already subject to a likely study this fall, but with no other action, counties may face a stark increase in their local matching funds, through an administrative interpretation, he urged “please add BRFA language to stave that off until we have the study later this fall.”
  • Disparity Grants are largely declining this year through their formula; he urged, “Your staff already suggests studying this formula, please include some manner of ‘smoothing’ into that study… if you can fix it for this year, great, but please fix it for the future.”

From MACo Testimony: 

MACo and county leaders are prepared to work with state policymakers on these issues and other considerations as part of a responsible, balanced budget plan. MACo hopes that state leaders recognize that burdens on county budgets are substantial, and these challenges would only be worsened by added cost shifts or disproportionate budget cutbacks on county programs.

MACo legislative director Kevin Kinnally testified on the bill’s crossfile, SB 362, on February 29 in the Budget and Taxation Committee.

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