DHHS Shortfall drops from $89M to $82.5M; Dems still want independent review of the numbers
DHHS, after “an intensive review”, is now claiming that their budget shortfall is actually about $6.5 million less than first thought:
“It is a number that is based upon the data that we have available today,” said DHHS Commissioner Mary Mayhew. “I am optimistic, given what I have seen over the last several months, about this number. It’s a budget, but we have to be mindful that this is an entitlement program and demand for services change.”
At least one Democrat on the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee appears to be skeptical:
“I will rely heavily on the Office of Fiscal and Program Review to do a thorough review of what we have received and report back to us. Then I will be willing to go forward using the numbers,” said Sen. Dawn Hill of Cape Neddick, the only Democratic senator on the Appropriations Committee.
AFA will start to work on the 2013 supplemental budget after the revenue forecasting committee does its work at a special meeting Monday. One wonders how these latest numbers will work into OPEGA’s investigation, called for a few weeks ago.
Leave a Reply