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NEW FISCAL YEAR LOOMS
With the start of the state 2016-2017 fiscal year just a little more than a month away, counties continue to emphasize
their top
priority
for 2016, asking the General Assembly to approve an appropriately funded FY 2016-2017 state budget, on a timely basis, so that counties and those they serve are not forced to bear the costs and burden of another impasse or of underfunded services.
A
recently released CCAP survey of how counties weathered the FY 2015-2016 state budget impasse shows that counties used millions of local taxpayer dollars to maintain critical services, such as
mental health, intellectual disabilities and children and youth services, while not receiving money owed to them from the state until well over six months into the fiscal year.
Equally important is addressing the historic pattern of underfunding across human services line items that counties provide on behalf of the state. Without appropriate levels of funding from the state and federal government, counties will be faced with the difficult choice either to curtail vital services for the commonwealth's most vulnerable citizens or to increase local property taxes, a choice no county wants to face. Another impasse, or lack of sufficient funding, in FY 2016-2017 would trigger a compounding effect.
The General Assembly returns to session on June 6, and media reports indicate that Gov. Wolf and legislative leaders have been meeting to discuss the FY 2016-2017 budget, although no negotiated proposals or individual legislative proposals have yet been put forward. Additional information about the impacts of the FY 2015-2016 impasse and county priorities for the FY 2016-2017 budget can be found on CCAP's Budget News and Updates web page.
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PA AUDITOR GENERAL RELEASES INTERIM REPORT ON CHILDLINE
An interim report on ChildLine, the state's hotline for reporting suspected child abuse and neglect, was released by Auditor General Eugene DePasquale on May 24. The report highlights the impacts of increased call volumes following changes to Pennsylvania's Child Protective Services Law that took effect in January 2015. Among the findings spanning 2014 and 2015, the Auditor General noted a total of 42,000 calls, or 22 percent, went unanswered in 2015, while a third of answered calls did not generate reports that were identified or tracked. The report also addressed other concerns, including lack of monitoring and inadequate staffing.
In the face of these challenges, the state Department of Human Services (DHS), which operates ChildLine, has been able to hire additional caseworkers and supervisors since the new laws took effect, which led to an improvement in the answer rates and other challenges experienced in 2015. However, the Auditor General highlighted that additional action must be taken quickly to make further improvements. The full report is available at www.PaAuditor.gov.
Following the release of the report, counties are reiterating their call for increased staffing and funding for county children and youth agencies. After ChildLine takes the reports, county agencies then conduct the actual child abuse investigation based on those reports. Although DHS received supplemental appropriations to increase their staff at ChildLine after the enactment of the new laws, counties were not permitted to reopen their child welfare budgets to add needed staff, even though most counties have seen a 35 to 50 percent increase in the number of investigations they must complete. As a priority for 2016, Pennsylvania counties are seeking an increase in the financial match for child welfare staff and adequate funding for human services.
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PROTECTION OF 911 INFORMATION
Legislation to offer protections for individual information related to 911 calls was signed into law by Gov. Wolf on May 24 as Act 30 of 2016. Originally House Bill 1310, introduced by Rep. Maria Donatucci (D-Philadelphia), the new law prohibits county 911 centers from releasing a record containing identifying information of a 911 caller, victim or witness, which includes the name, phone number and home address of that individual. Information on the location of the incident - unless it is the address of the caller, victim or witness or would compromise one of those individual's identity - as well as street block identifiers, cross streets or mile markers nearest the incident will still be open for release. CCAP noted in a support memo to the General Assembly that the primary public interest is in determining whether counties are adequately and promptly providing 911 service, which is satisfied by the requirements in Act 30.
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NEW FEDERAL RULE FOR EXEMPT EMPLOYEES ISSUED
On May 18, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued a new federal rule updating the overtime regulations for exempt and non-exempt employees.
The amended rule comes nearly two years following a signed memorandum by President Obama calling upon the DOL to update the regulations defining which exempt employees are covered under the Fair Labor Standards Act. More than 270,000 comments were received by the Department after the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking was issued in mid-2015.
Beginning Dec. 1, 2016, the salary threshold for exempt employees (including executive, professionals, administrative, outside consultants, and other employee classes) will be set at $913 per week, or $47,476 annually. The final rule issued by the Department doubles the threshold currently set at $23,660 per year, or $455 per week. More than four million employees across the country may be affected by the rule if they are on or under the new cutoff amount and would now be considered non-exempt.
Along with the increased threshold for certain employees, the DOL's rule also includes requirements to increase the total annual compensation threshold for highly compensated employees, provides an automatic mechanism to update the salary levels for determining exempt levels every three years based on inflation, and allows the use of nondiscretionary bonuses, incentive payments, and commission to account for up to 10 percent of the new salary basis. More details on the rule and its application can be found at https://www.dol.gov/whd/overtime/final2016/.
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FEDERAL OPIOID LEGISLATION MOVES TO CONFERENCE COMMITTEE
A Congressional conference committee has been established to resolve differences in legislation that will address the opioid epidemic. The conference committee, which includes Pennsylvania Congressman Pat Meehan, will be examining some 18 bills recently approved by the U.S. House that create federal grants and take steps to battle opioid addiction, and merging them with a comprehensive bill passed by the U.S. Senate in March. One of the House bills was authored by Congressman Meehan, requiring the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to study what information and resources are available to young athletes who become addicted to prescription painkillers following an injury on the field. Other House bills include proposals to encourage and train doctors to prescribe overdose reversal drugs, such as Naloxone, when they prescribe pain medication and other opioids, as well as to authorize new grant programs. The Senate legislation
would allow the U.S. Attorney General to provide grants to states, local governments and non-profit groups for programs to strengthen prescription drug monitoring, improve treatment for addicts, and expand prevention, education and law enforcement initiatives.
According to media reports, the plan is to draft compromise legislation in June that can be sent to the President by July.
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STATE EFFORTS FOCUS ON OPIOID EPIDEMIC
Several Democratic Senators recently announced they will be introducing legislation to address the opioid addiction crisis, including education and treatment as well as community support options. Specifically, the bills will require the state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs to establish an emergency addiction program and an interagency opioid awareness education program to be delivered in schools. The bills will further impose a ten percent assessment on the first sale of an opioid into the state, with revenues used to purchase Naloxone and to support addiction prevention and treatment programs, and will develop an addiction treatment professional loan forgiveness program.
Also in the Senate, Sen. Gene Yaw (R-Lycoming), recently introduced
SB 1228, which would limit the amount of opioid drug products prescribed in an emergency department. Another bill introduced by Sen. Yaw, SB 1202, would require individuals to complete at least two hours of education in the prescribing practices of opioids to obtain a license under the jurisdiction of the Department of State, with two hours of continuing education required for dispensers and prescribers on pain management or the prescribing practices of opioids, for biennial license renewal.
Gov. Wolf has additionally been hosting a series of roundtables around the state in May on the opioid overdose epidemic, including forums in Delaware, Bucks, York, Lebanon, Monroe and Luzerne counties. The Center for Rural Pennsylvania will also be holding its tenth hearing on confronting the heroin and opioid epidemic on June 2 in Aliquippa; Cheryl Andrews, executive director of the Washington County Drug and Alcohol Commission, and Kate Lowery, director of the Beaver County Behavioral Health Drug and Alcohol Program, are scheduled to testify, along with several medical professionals, public school superintendents and local district attorneys.
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NACO RESOLUTIONS PROCESS
The NACo resolutions process provides members with the ability to participate in national policy decisions affecting county governments by proposing changes to NACo's American County Platform or policy resolutions. If approved, changes are added to the platform for one year. Resolutions and platform changes submitted through the process will be considered at July's Annual Conference by NACo's 10 policy steering committees, its Board of Directors and its membership. All resolutions and platform changes must be submitted electronically (preferably as a Word document) via email to resolutions@naco.org by June 22. Submissions must identify the title and issue area in the email subject line.
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