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Under our state's process, every two years both the Governor and the Legislature release a proposed budget. Most of the legislative session is spent analyzing and negotiating the proposals until the final budget is settled.
As part of the budgeting process, our agency has presented information to legislative committee members about our programs, our cost drivers, and the state's vision for health reform over the next 10 years. You can see all our presentations here.
Earlier this month the co-chairs of the Ways and Means Committee released a proposed budget in follow-up to the Governor's budget released in January.
Significant to the work we do at OHA, the co-chairs' and the Governor's budgets both support greater investments in mental health treatment and prevention for children, teens and young adults. In their budget summary, lawmakers state very clearly that such investments will greatly benefit our schools, our health care system, our public safety system and our communities.
Over the next several months the budget subcommittees will be reviewing and fine-tuning the budget. Between now and then there will be adjustments in both revenue and caseload based on regularly scheduled economic updates.
We are still in the very early phases of the process and we should not expect the final budget until the end of the legislative session. I will keep you updated as we move forward.
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