| RECAP: what has happened so far? Earlier this year, the House and Senate passed their budgets, both containing language to support DMH case managers. The House budget included language that protected the current number of case managers but did not restore all of the funding from the Governor’s budget. The Senate’s budget included a 90-day notice to the legislature before any changes in service as well as stricter reporting guidelines. The Senate budget also restored the money cut from the Governor’s budget. Since these two budgets were passed, the leadership from both the House and Senate met as a Conference Committee to agree on a compromise budget. The conference committee released their budget over the weekend, and the House and Senate both voted to pass on the budget on Monday. What’s in the new budget? The new budget included much of the Senate version of language for case managers: -Full funding for the case manager line items -A 90-day notice to the legislature before any changes in service -An increase in data reporting and metrics by case managers However, the conference budget does not include language that maintains the number of case managers. The reconciled budget includes protections and funding for Pocasset Mental Health Center and Pappas Rehabilitation Hospital for Children. What happens now? The Governor has 10 days to sign, veto, or make “line item” vetoes to the legislature’s budget. Despite this full funding to the case manager line items, the administration still has discretion about how to spend within those line items. As a result, case managers remain under threat of layoffs by the administration and DMH. Your bargaining team will continue to meet with management and do everything we can to negotiate a removal of that threat. While there is still work to do, we could not have secured the full funding and 90-day notice without your advocacy. Thank you for the work you do. We will keep you updated about the progress of negotiations as things move along. You can also join us on Thursday, July 3 for this week’s DMH membership meeting at 4 PM. Check your email for the Zoom link! |
