Iowa Senate boosting mental health services funding

DES MOINES – Iowa senators agreed Tuesday to pump nearly $43 million in additional state surplus dollars into mental health services in an effort to avoid service cuts or waiting lists for counties functioning under a newly redesigned regional service delivery system.

Backers said the Iowa Senate's 33-17 bipartisan passage would put majority Democrats in a stronger bargaining position in negotiations with Gov. Terry Branstad and House Republicans to address issues related to mental illness that have been elevated by recent shooting incidents in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo. Before approving the measure, senators approved an amendment to boost state spending by about $13 million more than originally proposed for fiscal 2014.

“This bill is the single most important public safety bill we will vote on this session,” said Sen. Rob Hogg, D-Cedar Rapids, who noted that service providers are laboring under past funding cuts that threaten to force dangerous people being released into communities at a time when the state has a surplus approaching $900 million.

“This is a big issue. After Sandy Hook, Iowans expect us to do something and this is a bill we can pass,” said Hogg, in advocating for approval of Senate File 440. “Can't we take a small fraction of that (surplus) and put $42 million on a one-time basis to make sure our mental health system can get through this transition?

“A small price to pay for something that is critically important for our families and our neighborhoods and our schools and our communities,” he said. “These are the resources that are necessary to prevent bad outcomes from happening.”

However, Sen. Jack Whitver, R-Ankeny, argued against one-time money from the state's projected ending balance to fund an ongoing mental health redesign that included money to ease the transition from a county-based service delivery system to a regional network that will be fully operational by fiscal 2015.

He expressed concern that majority Democrats were attempting to return to the bad budgeting practice of using one-time resources to fund ongoing programs, which got the state in a financial bind when the 2008 recession forced a 10 percent across-the-board reduction in state spending.

Sen. Mark Segebart, R-Vail, one of seven GOP senators to vote for S.F. 440 on final passage, said he was concerned that the mechanism for funding mental health services using a mix of county, state and federal resources “seems to be very confusing.” He said he was “uncomfortable with where the bill is,” but Sen. Jack Hatch, D-Des Moines, the bill's floor manager, noted it likely faced revision as the split-control Legislature and Branstad negotiate a final version.

“This bill modernizes the mental health system in this state,” Hatch said. “This is not like appropriating money for a new road. This is really the construction of a new system of dealing with human tragedy. The last thing we want to do is compound those anxieties with a system that was going to be underfunded or poorly designed.”

Under S.F. 440, total funding from all sources would total nearly $172.5 million in fiscal 2014, which begins July 1. Included in the total would be $115 million from county property taxes, $14.7 million from federal and other funds, and $42.7 million from the state's general fund.

All 26 Senate Democrats were joined by GOP Sens. Rick Bertrand of Sioux City, Mark Chelgren of Ottumwa, Joni Ernst of Red Oak, Ken Rozenboom of Oskaloosa, Segebart, Amy Sinclair of Allerton and Brad Zaun of Urbandale in approving the bill and sending it to the House for consideration.