Nevada Budget Director Says Congress Not Expected To Extend Medicaid Funding To States
Submitted by on Wed, 06/30/2010 - 4:00pm
CARSON CITY – Nevada Budget Director Andrew Clinger said today he does not believe Congress will act to extend Medicaid funding that was counted on by lawmakers in February when they approved an $800 million plan to balance the state budget.
Even so, Clinger said it is “not yet time to panic� over the failure of Congress to approve a six-month extension of the temporary enhancement of the federal medical assistance percentage (FMAP), which provides funding for state Medicaid and other health programs. A number of states were counting on the extension from Jan. 1, 2011 through the end of the fiscal year June 30. The extension was expected to bring $88.5 million to Nevada.
Clinger said a number of factors need to be analyzed before deciding on what needs to be done about the loss of the anticipated federal funding.
One piece of good news is that state tax collections are up about $57 million over what was projected for this fiscal year, he said. If tax revenues continue to exceed estimates, it will help keep the state budget balanced, Clinger said.
Taxable sales reported earlier this week for April were up 2 percent, the first increase in Nevada in 20 months.
Clinger said the first step will be to revise tax revenue estimates for the remainder of this fiscal year and the 2011 fiscal year that begins Thursday. Clinger said he will also sit down with Mike Willden, director of the Department of Health and Human Services, to get new caseload estimates on Medicaid and other programs.
Another unresolved factor is $62 million taken from a Clark County water pipeline project as part of the plan approved by lawmakers in February to balance the budget. The diversion of funds is being challenged in court by the Clark County Clean Water Coalition.
There is also a concern about whether a new three-month tax amnesty program set to start Thursday will bring in the $10 million anticipated by lawmakers as part of the budget balancing plan, he said.
Clinger said earlier this month he believes that if a shortfall materializes in the current budget, any spending reductions can be presented to the Legislature’s Interim Finance Committee for approval rather that the full Legislature, an option that would require Gibbons to call lawmakers into a special session.
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