HF 986

3rd Engrossment - 86th Legislature (2009 - 2010) Posted on 02/09/2010 01:43am

A bill for an act
relating to human services; amending county maintenance of effort provisions;
amending Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 245.4835.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:

Section 1.

Minnesota Statutes 2008, section 245.4835, is amended to read:

245.4835 COUNTY MAINTENANCE OF EFFORT.

Subdivision 1.

Required expenditures.

new text begin (a) new text end Counties must maintain a level of
expenditures for mental health services under sections 245.461 to 245.484 and 245.487 to
245.4889 so that each year's county expenditures are at least equal to that county's average
expenditures for those services for calendar years 2004 and 2005. The commissioner will
adjust each county's base level for minimum expenditures in each year by the amount of
any increase or decrease in that county's state grants or other noncounty revenues for
mental health services under sections 245.461 to 245.484 and 245.487 to 245.4889.

new text begin (b) In order to simplify administration and improve budgeting predictability, the
commissioner shall:
new text end

new text begin (1) use each county's actual prior year revenues to determine the county's minimum
required expenditures for the coming year;
new text end

new text begin (2) allocate each county's revenues proportionally across applicable expenditures;
and
new text end

new text begin (3) reduce each county's base to allow for major decreases in state or federal block
grants or other revenues that can be used for mental health services, but are not dedicated
to mental health; in this case, the commissioner shall calculate the mental health share of
total county expenditures which were eligible to be funded from that revenue source in the
base year and then use that mental health share to allocate the change in those revenues to
mental health. This clause applies to changes in revenues that are beyond the county's
control and expires December 31, 2011.
new text end

new text begin (c) In order to simplify administration and improve budgeting predictability, the
commissioner may:
new text end

new text begin (1) use more current information regarding major changes in revenues if the change
is known early enough to allow counties time to reduce their budgets; and
new text end

new text begin (2) reduce a county's base if the county's population is declining and the county's per
capita mental health expenditures are higher than the state average.
new text end

Subd. 2.

Failure to maintain expenditures.

new text begin (a) new text end If a county does not comply with
subdivision 1, the commissioner shall require the county to develop a corrective action plan
according to a format and timeline established by the commissioner. If the commissioner
determines that a county has not developed an acceptable corrective action plan within
the required timeline, or that the county is not in compliance with an approved corrective
action plan, the protections provided to that county under section 245.485 do not apply.

new text begin (b) The commissioner shall consider the following factors to determine whether to
approve a county's corrective action plan:
new text end

new text begin (1) the degree to which a county is maximizing revenues for mental health services
from noncounty sources;
new text end

new text begin (2) the degree to which a county is expanding use of alternative services which meet
mental health needs but do not count as mental health services within existing reporting
systems. If approved by the commissioner, the alternative services must be included in the
county's base as well as subsequent years. The commissioner's approval for alternative
services must be based on the following criteria:
new text end

new text begin (i) the services must be provided to children with emotional disturbance or adults
with mental illness;
new text end

new text begin (ii) the services must be based on an individual treatment plan or individual family
community support plan, as defined in section 245.4871;
new text end

new text begin (iii) the services must be supervised by a mental health professional and provided by
staff who meet the staff qualifications defined in sections 256B.0943, subdivision 7, and
256B.0622, subdivision 5; and
new text end

new text begin (iv) additional county expenditures to make up for the prior year's underspending
may be spread out over a two-year period.
new text end