The Wyoming Department of Health told the Joint Appropriations Committee Thursday it had submitted a supplemental budget request of about $11.2 million for early intervention and developmental preschool services. Department officials said the request combines the updated child count, the statutory per‑child amount, and cumulative unfunded external cost adjustments (ECA) that statute requires the department to present each year.

"These are services for children birth through age 5 who are identified with a developmental disability or delay," Director Stefan Johansen told the committee, describing the regional providers that deliver the developmental preschool services and the statutory elements (child count, per‑child amount, and ECA) that determine the request.

Johansen explained last year’s enrolled act changed the child‑count date to May 1 and raised the per‑child dollar amount in statute, and it also modified the ECA calculation to use three inflation indices, aligning the preschool ECA more closely with the K‑12 system. Those changes, combined with prior unfunded ECAs, produce the $11.2 million supplemental request currently before the committee.

Committee members asked how the governor’s recommendations intersect with the department’s statutory obligation. Department staff and LSO staff explained there is a tension between the enrolled act language and a footnote in the budget bill. LSO and executive‑branch staff reported they treated the budget‑bill footnote as a cap (about $12.2 million) when reconciling the governor’s recommendation; that interpretation led to partial denial of the request in the governor’s budget materials.

Johansen also cautioned committee members about federal maintenance‑of‑effort (MOE) obligations tied to IDEA and related interactions with the Department of Education: the department is required to present the ECA requests but the legislature retains discretion to fund none, some or all of the requested amount. He said the department estimates the developmental preschool program is roughly a $71–$72 million biennial program, of which approximately $68 million is financed by the state general fund.

Representatives and senators pressed for clearer presentation of which items are statutorily required to be shown even if denied by the governor. Johansen and committee members agreed the department would provide additional materials on updated child counts and explanatory context to make the statutory status of such requests clearer to new committee members and the public.

The department also reviewed other supplemental categories it submitted: three Medicaid reimbursement rate increases (behavioral health, home health for high‑needs children, and obstetrics), several small administrative changes that leverage federal match, and notification that a roughly $3.5 million tranche of ARPA‑sourced funding for waiver providers is scheduled to expire in March.

No formal committee action was taken Thursday; members asked staff for follow‑up materials and clarification on statutory citations and budget‑bill footnote interaction.