Legislative Update
July 1, 2003
Legislature passes temporary budget, fails to override Governor's
veto
The House of Representatives narrowly failed to override the Governor's
veto of the 2004/2005 state budget yesterday. Thanks to the insistence
of the Senate, the stopgap temporary budget that passed provides the
same amount of money as the vetoed compromise budget. The Continuing
Budget Resolution passed by the Legislature allows the state to operate
until October 1st while budget negotiations continue.
Medicaid payments will continue without interruption - at least until
September 30, 2003. However, budget uncertainty continues. In
renegotiating the budget, "compromise" means reducing the Committee of
Conference budget, so advocacy for Medicaid services will have to be
maintained for the next 3 months to avoid further cuts. Legislators
should be urged to prevent additional cuts. NHHA will post updates as
the work of the new Committee of Conference proceeds.
