Committee update - Minnesota State Legislature

Committee update
standard weight of an adult, Anderson
said. Children are not only smaller in
size, but also consume more air and food
in proportion to body weight than
adults, she said. Between 1973 and
1994, said Anderson, children’s cancer
has increased by 1 percent each year.
Testimony for the bill was given by
Tessa Hill and Kathleen Schuller, of the
Children’s Health and Environmental
Coalition, who both lost their children
to cancer. Jim Koppel, of the Children’s
Defense Fund, called the proposed
legislation “safe and logical.” Pat
Lungren, environmental director for the
Dept. of Health, also supported the bill.
Lungren said he supports the use of a
child’s weight as the standard figure in
toxin policies.
The bill was approved and re-refered
to the Environment and Natural
Resources Committee.
Sen. Dallas Sams (DFL-Staples)
presented S.F. 2662, a bill increasing
Prepaid Medical Assistance Program
(PMAP) capitation rates for nonmetropolitan
counties to no less than 95
percent of the PMAP rates in metropolitan
counties. Steve Waldhoff, Albert
Lea Medical Center Hospital administrator,
provided testimony on the bill.
PMAP rates in non-metropolitan
counties are currently 88 percent of the
metropolitan rate, said Waldhoff. Yet
wage rates for health care workers in
Greater Minnesota, he said, are not
significantly lower. Waldhoff cited St.
Mary’s Duluth Clinic, which had wage
rates only 1 percent lower than the same
positions in the Metro Area. The bill
was laid over due to time constraints.
Housing bill okayed
Sen. John Hottinger (DFL-Mankato),
chair the Health and Family Security
Committee, brought S.F. 2361 before
the committee at a hearing Fri., Feb 11.
The bill provides funds for the homesharing
grant program. The low-cost
program matches Minnesotans who
would have to give up independent
living in their homes with those who
need affordable housing. This program
provides an option for people who
would otherwise need public assistance,
he said, reducing state costs.
Barbara Jilk, of the MN Homesharing
Association, said that, although the
Senate approved funding for the
program last year, funding was not
14
provided by the House. Currently, she
said, the program is scheduled to end in
2001. Jilk said that the program has
provided 392 units of affordable
housing for people with low to moderate
incomes, helping 44 families avoid
public assistance and kept 140 people
from needing assisted living placements.
Each homeshare match costs the state
an average of only $1,020, she said.
Mary Jo Czaplewski, a participant’s
daughter, said that the program has
allowed her mother to remain independent
and feel secure in her home. The
committee approved the bill and
referred it to the Health and Family
Security Budget Division.
S.F. 2404, carried by Sen. Linda
Berglin (DFL-Mpls.), was heard by the
committee. The bill appropriates
federal Temporary Assistance for Needy
Families (TANF) funds to the Job Skills
Partnership Board to be used for the
health care and human services training
and retention program. Berglin said
that proposal requests have been
released, and of 50 replies, she estimates
that six or seven of them will be funded.
Members discussed making the program
permanent, but took no action before
approving the bill and referring it to the
Health and Family Security Budget
Division.
Berglin also presented S.F. 2407, a bill
clarifying the treatment of crime victims
reparations for purposes of Medical
Assistance eligibility determinations.
The bill states that reparations are not
to be considered when determining
eligibility for Medical Assistance. Mike
Gruye, an awardee of crime victim
reparations, testified before the committee.
Gruye said that he was forced to
pay down the reparations made to him
after he was physically attacked while at
work, otherwise he would not qualify for
Medical Assistance.
The members approved the bill and
moved it to the Senate floor.
Sen. Sheila Kiscaden (R-Rochester)
brought S.F. 2474 before the committee.
In the bill, modifications are made on a
number of provisions for speechlanguage
pathologists, audiologists,
unlicenced mental health practitioners,
alcohol and drug counselors, and
hearing aid instrument dispensers.
Kiscaden said that the same legislation
has been passed every year for the past
three years, and requested that the bill
be approved by the committee. The
members approved the bill and sent it to
the Senate floor.
Kiscaden then presented S.F. 2583, a
bill reducing the notice period from 18
months to six months and providing
information about private insurance for
recipients of MinnesotaCare who are no
longer eligible for the program due to
income increases. Deborah Wagner, of
the Dept. of Human Services, said that
currently 5 percent of the 111,000
MinnesotaCare recipients have incomes
higher than the program eligibility
thresholds. The bill was laid over for
further discussion.
Senior drug bills heard
A bill modifying human services
licensing provisions made progress Tue.,
Feb. 15, in the Health and Family
Security Committee, chaired by Sen.
John Hottinger (DFL-Mankato). S.F.
3005, authored by Sen. Jane Ranum
(DFL-Mpls.), allows housing providers
to seek an adult foster care license from
the commissioner of human services,
grants tribal licensing agencies access to
background data, makes changes in
licensing procedure to comply with
federal law, and states that county
agencies are subject to the same tort
liability as the state. Laura Plummer
Zrust testified for the bill on behalf of
the Department of Human Services
(DHS). The bill was approved and rereferred
to the Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Linda Berglin (DFL-Mpls.)
authored S.F. 2901, a bill that modifies
human services health care program
provisions, before the committee. The
bill is designed to eliminate obsolete
rules, said Berglin. Don Allen, from the
Dept. of Human Services, testified on
behalf of the bill. Berglin said that her
proposal eliminates the need for some
human services bills that are brought
before the legislature every year. The
bill was approved and moved to the
Senate floor.
Members addressed a package of eight
bills, by six authors; S.F. 2383 authored
by Berglin, S.F. 2410 authored by
Berglin, S.F. 2447 presented by Sen.
Becky Lourey (DFL-Kerrick), S.F. 2589
presented by Hottinger, S.F. 2562
preseted by Sen. Don Samuelson (DFL-
Brainerd), S.F. 2860 authored by
Hottinger, S.F. 2959 authored by Sen.
Sheila Kiscaden (R-Rochester), and S.F.