Senator Ray Miller (D-Columbus) had it right when he remarked at the brief meeting of the Ohio Senate Finance and Financial Institutions Committee this morning that legislators “should just join hands and sing Kumbaya.” He was referencing the fact that Republicans and Democrats alike were singing the praises of the omnibus amendment to the Senate substitute version of H.B. 119 (the two-year state budget bill). Of course the singing may come to an end when the Office of Budget and Management and the Ohio Legislative Services Commission come to the conference committee (possibly as early as Thursday) with revised revenue estimates that nearly everyone expects to be lower (around $200 million over the biennium is the current rumor). The conferees will have a limited set of options available to them to deal with the shortfall, but hopefully the bipartisan spirit will continue and proposed increased investments in health, social services and education won’t end up cut out on the conference room floor.

It should be noted that the omnibus amendment actually spends very little new money; most of it consists of either earmarking existing line items, or moving money between years or line items. There are a few items in the omnibus amendment that deserve special mention and they include:

· The Health Assistance for Children with Catastrophic Illness Council is placed in temporary law, but eliminated the authority of the ODFJS Director to implement any Council recommendations without legislative approval.

· It creates the Special Education Scholarship Pilot Program for students with disabilities in grades K-12 to attend alternative public or private special education programs in fiscal years 2009 through 2014. The scholarships would be a minimum of $20,000.

· Makes changes in the behavioral health pilot program that was in the Senate substitute bill and limits the pilot to a small, medium, large, and one board consortium , and clarifies the services are for behavioral health and requires coordination with Medicaid managed care plans.

· It requires the Ohio Department of Education to submit an annual report to the General Assembly of each school district’s aggregate employee salary and benefits.

· It requires the Development Department to convene a task force to study state, regional, and local economic development incentives and to report on how to strengthen Ohio’s economy by making the incentives more effective.

· It requires that as of July 1, 2009, that county departments of JFS applications for Medicaid be submitted and store electronically.

· Requires ODJFS to contract with a third party to conduct a child care market rate survey in each even numbered year.

· It requires ODJFS and ODE to develop a fiscal model that joins and early care and education programs under one funding system.

· Transfers $318,000 from ODJFS IT account and gives it to the Ohio Civil Rights Commission IT budget

· It allows FQHCs to participate in the medical liability insurance reimbursement program, and allows the Department of Health to place two FQHCs within or adjacent to a hospital emergency department.

· Earmarks additional TANF dollars to the Alliance Early Childhood Education Pilot Project (anyone know what this is?), the Economic and Community Development Institute, Ohio Council of Urban Leagues,

· Takes $400,000 a year from the ODJFS 600-523 line item (children and family services) and transfers it to a new line item for adult protective services for a total of $500,000 a year (the Senate had already created this line and added $100,000 a year in the Senate sub bill), and specifies how counties are to create maintenance of effort to receive APS funding.

Of course there are a lot more amendments, but these are the highlights (or the lowlights). Now onto the Senate floor on Wednesday and the question is whether the Senate will also cast a unanimous vote for the budget.

Meanwhile, all together now…

Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya

Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya

Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya

Oh Lord, kumbaya