Nursing Homes and Public Schools Get Boosts in Budget
March 8th, 2018 by Jake Stofan
Lawmakers have finalized an $88.7 billion budget. It allocates $21 billion for public school funding. It’s a 2.4% increase over last year.
Nursing homes are also getting a boost. Lawmakers agreed to divvy out $130 million for Medicaid reimbursements. The move has been criticized by some, because the money can be used for purchasing generators, which became required after hurricane Irma.
Senate Appropriations Chair Rob Bradley says that wasn’t the intention behind the boost.
“Nursing homes are an important part of making sure that we live up to the promise that we should have to those who have built our communities and fought in our wars, to make sure that they end their life in a dignified manner,” said Bradley. “So we’re not going to apologize for one second about making sure that there’s sufficient funds in place to make sure that they’re taken care of.”
The budget has to “cool off” for 72 hours once it’s published before lawmakers can take a vote.
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