Appropriates $75,303,200 to the Department of Health and Welfare for the divisions of Independent Councils, Indirect Support Services, Healthcare Policy Initiatives and Licensing and Certification for fiscal year 2018; limits the number of authorized full-time equivalent positions to 381.1; provides for General Fund transfers to the Cooperative Welfare Fund; directs expenditures for trustee and benefit payments; limits services to available resources; requires a report on VOCA funds; requires a monthly Medicaid tracking report; requires a biannual Medicaid Program Integrity Unit report; requires quarterly transfer reports; requires monthly vacancy reports; requires a report on the implementation of the SHIP grant; requires biannual reports on facility licensing and certification; and appropriates an additional $1,115,100 to the Department of Health and Welfare, Indirect Support Services, for fiscal year 2017.

This is the fiscal year 2018 Original Appropriation to the Department of Health and Welfare for the divisions of Independent Councils, Indirect Support Services, Healthcare Policy Initiatives, and Licensing and Certification. This bill also includes the fiscal year 2017 supplemental appropriation for Indirect Support Services. Forfiscalyear2018, thebillincludes$20,927,900fromtheGeneralFund, $4,613,900fromdedicatedfunds, and $49,761,400 from federal funds for a total of $75,303,200 and 381.1 FTP. The bill also contains three sections of department-wide legislative intent language, one section specific to the Independent Councils, four sections specific to Indirect Support Services, one section specific to Healthcare Policy Initiatives, and one section specific to Licensing and Certification. All four divisions include adjustments for employee benefitcostsanda3%merit-basedchangeinemployeecompensationthatistobedistributedatthediscretion of the department or council director. The Independent Councils Division includes the Developmental Disabilities Council and the Domestic Violence Council. The Developmental Disabilities Council was appropriated funding for a research analyst position. Indirect Support Services provides department wide support for finance, human resources, the office of the director,andITsupport. Thisprogramreceivedadjustmentsforstatewidecostallocation,replacementitems, and cybersecurity insurance. There are three line items for this division. Line item 17 provides for three additional positions to assist with operational needs of the department. Line item 21 adds another financial services position to assist with the Welfare budget and expenditures. Line item 26 provides funding to procure a fraud and abuse detection software system. For fiscal year 2017, this bill includes an additional $1,360,000 in federal fund personnel costs to align with the current federal match. Also included is a reduction of $244,900 from the General Fund. These funds were tr