Committee members reviewed several individual Human Services line items where the House and Senate diverged and asked staff and agencies for clarifying documents.

The Senate reduced a line for behavioral-health services for nursing homes and basic-care facilities by $2,000,000; a member said this appeared to fund a third-party contract to provide training to nursing-home staff. The House position had added the item based on concerns about increasing complexity in basic-care residents.

The Senate removed an added FTE for a state dementia coordinator; committee members said they would work to address dementia-care needs in a more comprehensive discussion. The LIHEAP adjustment removed $9,000,000 from other funds due to an accounting change, and foster-care caseload adjustments removed $9,000,000 from general funds and $9,000,000 from federal funds at the department's recommendation.

The Senate removed funding for the Waterford program ($2,400,000), prompting questions from members who said Waterford was highly regarded in the communities they represent. The committee also discussed reinstating ongoing funding for "Ministry on the Margins" ($285,000) and Frasers limited funding ($300,000), which staff said had been in the previous session but not in the base budget. Members asked staff to confirm ongoing versus one-time status for these items.

Guardianship funding ($6,532,355) was removed based on a reference to Senate Bill 2029; staff said they expected the bill and conference negotiations in another committee to determine how much funding would be needed and noted potential transfer language involving the judiciary. Committee members asked staff to provide dollar amounts and language for any transfer or plug numbers so the conference committee could account for implementation delays.

Committee members repeatedly requested worksheets, amendment language and supporting documents for these and other line items before taking final conference positions. No formal votes were held on these items during the meeting.