Judges: MIKE BEEBE, Attorney General
Filed Date: 7/14/2005
Status: Precedential
Modified Date: 7/5/2016
The Honorable Leroy Dangeau The Honorable Tim Wooldridge State Representative House Co-Chair State Senator Senate Co-Chair Arkansas Legislative Council Arkansas Legislative Council Room 315, State Capitol Building Room 315, State Capitol Building Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 Little Rock, Arkansas 72201
Gentlemen:
I am writing in response to your joint request for an opinion concerning Act 2272 of 2005, which appropriates funds for personal services and operating expenses for the Department of Veterans Affairs ("Department") for the biennial period ending June 30, 2007. You note that Section 5 of the Act appropriates funds for personal services, operating expenses and extra help for the Veterans' Home in Fayetteville, Arkansas. You relay the following facts and pose the following questions:
Section 9 of Act 2272 requires, in relevant part, that: "No funds shall be expended on construction or renovation of the Fayetteville Nursing Home until there is a balanced operating budget presented to the Joint Budget Committee or the Arkansas Legislative Council showing no additional general revenue will be needed for the operation of the home." [Emphasis your original].
On June 17, the Department of Veterans Affairs presented a budget to the Arkansas Legislative Council. To balance the budget, the department proposed to accept Medicaid reimbursement as a source of income since many veterans are eligible for Medicaid benefits. The state Medicaid program reimburses health care providers for costs of health care on a matching-funds basis with federal moneys made available through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
1. Given that at least part of the revenues for the state Medicaid program originate as general revenues of the state, do those funds retain their character as general revenue funds when they are paid out as matching funds for federal Medicaid moneys?
2. May the Department of Veterans Affairs include funds received through Medicaid to meet the balanced operating budget requirement of Section 9 of Act 2272 of 2005?
3. Under Act 2272 of 2005, may funds be expended on construction or renovation of the Fayetteville Nursing Home, if the operating budget presented to the Joint Budget Committee or the Arkansas Legislative Council included Medicaid reimbursements as an additional source or income necessary to balance the budget?
RESPONSE
Each of your three questions essentially poses the same issue for resolution, i.e., whether a proposed operating budget that includes Medicaid reimbursement is consistent with Act 2272's mandate that the budget show that "no additional general revenue will be needed for the operation of the home." As a consequence, I will address your three questions together as one issue. In my opinion, the issue is largely a matter of legislative intent and, as a practical matter, is one that will be decided in the first instance by the appropriate legislative committee. When the language in question is viewed in the context of the act as a whole, however, and when applicable rules of statutory construction are applied, in my opinion a court might well conclude that a proposed operating budget relying on Medicaid reimbursement does not run afoul of the requirement in Act 2272, Section 9.
The Act in question, Act 2272 of 2005, is entitled "AN ACT to Make Appropriation for Personal Services and Operating Expenses for the Department of Veterans' Affairs for the Biennial Period Ending June 30, 2007; and For Other Purposes."1 Sections 1 and 2 of the Act establish the various employee positions in the Department and make appropriations for the salaries and for operation of the Department. Sections 3 and 4 make appropriations for the Department's "Veterans' Home Division." Sections 7 and 8 make appropriations for the Veterans' Cemetery. The pertinent appropriation for our purposes is found in Section 5 which makes appropriations for the personal services and operating expenses of the Fayetteville Veterans' Home. Specifically, Section 5 of the Act makes $3,798,013 in total appropriations for this purpose in fiscal year 2005-2006 and 3,865,776 in fiscal year 2006-2007. These appropriations are made from the "Miscellaneous Agencies Fund Account," and include such line items as "regular salaries," "extra help," "personal services matching," and "maintenance and general operation." Section 6 of the Act authorizes extra-help positions for the Fayetteville Veterans' Home.
Section 9 of Act 2272, which contains the crucial provision about the proposed budget, is designated as "special language." Section 9 states that it is "not to be incorporated into the Arkansas Code nor published separately as special, local and temporary law." The balance of Section 9 provides as follows:
FAYETTEVILLE VETERANS' HOME. Before funds or appropriations for the Fayetteville Nursing Home are spent, the Department of Veterans' Affairs shall present to the Joint Budget Committee or the Arkansas Legislative Council, a detailed report of the proposed project and a revised budget for operation showing there are sufficient funds for the entire operation. No funds shall be expended on construction or renovation of the Fayetteville Nursing Home until there is a balanced operating budget presented to the Joint Budget Committee or the Arkansas Legislative Council showing no additional general revenue will be needed for the operation of the home.
Before any additional expenditures for the 2004-2005 fiscal year are spent, the Department of Veterans' Affairs shall present to the Joint Budget committee or the Arkansas Legislative Council, a detailed report of the proposed project and a revised budget for operation of the Nursing Home.
This special language therefore qualifies or conditions the appropriations made in Section 5 from the Miscellaneous Agencies Fund Account. Such conditions can be validly imposed under certain circumstances. Cf. Op. Att'y. Gen.
In my opinion the issue presented is largely one of legislative intent. It has been stated that "[t]he basic rule of statutory construction, to which all other interpretive guides must yield, is to give effect to the intent of the General Assembly." Pugh v. St. Paul Fire Marine Ins.Co.,
The resolution of the issue depends upon what was meant by "additional general revenues." It is important, in my opinion, to construe these words in the context in which they were used. It has been stated that in construing statutes and rules, the Supreme Court looks to the language under discussion in the context of the statute as a whole. Green v.Mills,
General revenues of the state are of course more broadly enumerated at A.C.A. §
It appears that the only fund that might be classified as "general revenues" in this mixture is the revenue in the Department of Human Services "Grants Fund Account."2 See A.C.A. §
In my opinion, however, after a review of the pertinent language of Section 9 of Act 2272 and the language of the Act as a whole, a court might well hold that a proposed operating budget showing Medicaid reimbursement would not run afoul of Act 2272. As a guide in ascertaining legislative intent, the court will "often examine the history of the statutes involved, as well as the contemporaneous conditions at the time of their enactment, the consequences of interpretation, and all other matters of common knowledge within the court's jurisdiction." City ofLittle Rock v. ATT Comm.,
As a final matter, I should note that A.C.A. §
Deputy Attorney General Elana C. Wills prepared the foregoing opinion, which I hereby approve.
Sincerely,
MIKE BEEBE Attorney General
MB:ECW/cyh
Burke v. Elmore , 341 Ark. 129 ( 2000 )
Vincent v. Prudential Insurance Brokerage , 333 Ark. 414 ( 1998 )
City of Little Rock v. AT&T COMMUNICATIONS OF SOUTHWEST, ... , 318 Ark. 616 ( 1994 )
CITIZENS TO EST. REFORM PARTY v. Priest , 325 Ark. 257 ( 1996 )
Green v. Mills , 339 Ark. 200 ( 1999 )
Pugh v. St. Paul Fire & Marine Insurance , 317 Ark. 304 ( 1994 )