Committee rejects proposed higher provider inflator; motion to set inflator at 2% fails

The conference committee debated increases to provider reimbursement inflators and rejected a motion to adopt a higher inflator.

At the start of the inflator discussion Senator Cleary moved to “move the inflator to 2 and 2.” The motion was seconded and committee members discussed budget impacts and workforce considerations. One member summarized the fiscal effect: “It's state, yeah general fund is 2.5. Federal is 2.5. So it's about a near a dollars 5,000,000 total but 2.5 general fund which is what we're most concerned with in this exercise.”

Supporters argued that inflator increases were necessary to stabilize provider workforces; opponents said other targeted investments would be preferable. After a roll-call vote the motion failed, with Chairman Nelson, Representative O’Brien, Representative Mitscog, and Chairman Dever voting yes and Senator Cleary and Senator Davidson voting no. A committee member announced, “No. That motion fails.”

The committee then moved on to other budget items without adopting the proposed inflator increase.