CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Gov. Jim Justice says he will refuse to support a budget passed by the West Virginia Legislature that does not include a full elimination of the waitlist for the Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities Waiver program.
Justice issued a statement this morning, a day after the Senate Finance Committee approved a proposed budget that would increase funding for the IDD waiver program but only by half of what Justice wants.
“I will not support a budget that does not include a full elimination of the IDD Waiver waitlist,” Justice stated today.
“When it comes to the health and well-being of some of our most vulnerable men, women, and children in West Virginia, I’m not interested in taking half-measures.
Justice announced during his 2020 State of the State Address that DHHR Cabinet Secretary Bill Crouch and Revenue Secretary Dave Hardy had found a solution to fund the elimination of the waitlist.
The IDD waiver program gives individuals the choice of receiving support and services in their home and community instead of in an institutional setting. The cost of services provided by the IDD waiver is 46 percent lower than the cost of services provided by an intermediate care facility for individuals with developmental disabilities, the administration says.
Elimination of the waitlist would allow 1,060 additional West Virginians, including more than 600 children, to receive services meant to help with home care of children with disabilities.
“Many of these people have been waiting for more than four years now, which is far too long. My proposed budget includes the funding to accomplish this goal,” Justice stated.
Justice vetoed a budget passed by the Legislature three years ago by unveiling it alongside a platter of cowfield excrement and saying it made too many cuts to important programs.
The governor let another budget pass without his signature, citing similar complaints.
The final week of the regular, 60-day regular session is coming up, and much focus will be on budget negotiations.
The Senate Finance Committee rolled out its version of the budget on Wednesday afternoon.
The Senate is proposing a budget $27 million less than what Justice had proposed spending.
To get that done, Senate leaders suggest trimming $10 million from the governor’s pledge to eliminate the waiting list for intellectual and developmental disabilities waivers.
The Senate’s proposed IDD waiver funding is still $10 million above current levels.
The Senate majority also proposes cutting millions from Justice priority programs such as Jobs & Hope — formerly “Jim’s Dream” — and Communities in Schools.
“To a great degree, the governor got the budget he wanted except for a couple of things,” said Senate Finance Chairman Craig Blair, R-Berkeley.
During the budget session, Senator Ron Stollings asked about the IDD waiver.
“So the governor’s comments that he was going to do away with the wait list and cover that through the Medicaid surplus — just talk?” asked Stollings, D-Boone, a candidate for governor.
Then, referring to the full amount that had originally been proposed, Stollings commented, “There’s still a lot of people out there who would benefit from the $19 million.”
Blair, who noted that the total IDD expenditure is about $100 million a year, explained that he wants to wait and see if the amount originally proposed by the governor is necessary because a commitment would affect future budgets.
And he would like to see what affect additional spending truly has on the wait list.
“I think it’s a noble idea that the governor was trying to do, but the fact of the matter is $20 million would be base-building,” he said. “The wait list may reappear again immediately.”
Blair concluded, “We can actually monitor as we go through the year and see where the wait list grows even more.”
The House Finance Committee was set to have its budget hearing on Thursday afternoon.
House Speaker Roger Hanshaw, R-Clay, said delegates continue to examine the issue.
“We’re looking hard at this. We’ve talked to our Senate colleagues. We’ve talked to DHHR. We’ve talked to other states,” Hanshaw said this morning on MetroNews’ “Talkline.”
He said lawmakers would like to provide help to as many people as possible, but he suggested that eliminating the waitlist might only be temporary until it would return again.
“We want to provide as much relief as we’re able to provide, but we also know that in other states where this has been done, a single-shot effort to completely eliminate that wait list has worked for a period of months and then the wait list is immediately back again,” he said.