Alan Powell

Both the House and Senate gave final approval to an $18.3 billion state budget plan for fiscal year 2012, which begins July 1. HB 78 was finalized by a conference committee that worked out differences between the House and Senate versions of the legislation. The proposal reduces Medicaid reimbursement rates for physicians by 0.5 percent and incorporates a 20 percent increase in health insurance premiums for educators and other state employees in response to a $273 million deficit in the State Health Benefits Plan. Unlike budgets during the previous administration, there are no significant QBE funding cuts that shift the public education tax burden to local property owners. While we are not out of the woods yet from an economic perspective, this is the closest we have come to a solid state budget in the past eight years. HB 78 now goes to the Governor, who can sign or veto the entire budget or individual line-item appropriations.