Among the session-end documents each year is the Joint Chairmen's Report, a comprehensive catalog of the various reports, narrative and language added to the operating and capital budgets through legislative deliberations. This year's 555-page report is now available online.
The Joint Chairmen's Report, or JCR around town, summarizes and explains the many reports and added measures that were part of the eventual legislative enactment of the operating budget and capital budget bills for the year ahead. The report, published each year after the session ends by the nonpartisan Department of Legislative Services, is now available online for stakeholder review.
SB 360 - Operating Budget bill
SB 361 - Capital Budget bill
From the report's cover letter:
These reports incorporate detailed statements of all reductions and additions made to the appropriations and also contain expressions of legislative intent and policy guidelines that are an integral part of the action taken on the budgets. Explanations of reductions, additions, and other actions are provided where the rationale may not be obvious.
One element of this report is a directive to evaluate and report back on the multiple funding streams provided to Local health Departments by the Maryland Department of Health.
The analysis and language is on pages 106-107 of the JCR:
Explanation: Section 2-302 of the Health – General Article mandates formula funding for Core Public Health Services (funding for LHD) with an annual adjustment factor set to inflation and population growth. The formula, as currently written in statute, does not account for ongoing expenditures related to annual general salary increases, salary increments, or health insurance costs. In addition, increases in the State allocation to LHDs resulted in significant increases in the amount of local match funding required for each LHD in fiscal 2024, and this will likely be the case in fiscal 2025 as well. This language restricts funding until the Maryland Department of Health (MDH) and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) submit a report on the funding formula calculation, recent actual LHD expenditures, and recommendations for any changes to the formula.
Among the specified components of the analysis is "recommendations to adjust the local match calculation to prevent burdensome increases in local funding requirements" - recognizing the concerns raised by county governments in the application of matching fund requirements in recent years. Once recommendations have been issued regarding the future of the local match, local and state agencies will likely come together to weigh the merit of different strategies against a needs assessment. Considerations to take into account are how public health and service delivery have evolved over time since 1996 - when the current percentages were devised - and what those demands will look like in the future.
Read the full JCR report online for more details on the state fiscal plan for FY25.
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