Committee barely OKs recovery center proposal

BOISE - The Idaho Legislature's Joint Millennium Fund Committee narrowly recommended funding four new community recovery centers Tuesday, including one in Lewiston, but the proposal still faces significant hurdles.

The centers are intended to provide a safe, supportive environment for people who are recovering from substance abuse and behavioral issues. They would be staffed largely by volunteers, many of whom have dealt with addiction issues of their own and can provide peer mentoring.

The Legislature appropriated $500,000 for four new centers last year, including one in Moscow. The Idaho Association of Counties is requesting an additional $600,000 this year for four more centers, located in Lewiston, Coeur d'Alene, and Bannock and Bonneville counties.

Ross Edmunds, administrator of the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare's Behavioral Health Division, told the joint budget committee last week that the first four centers have attracted a number of clients and "have proven themselves very effective."

"When individuals are in recovery, it's important that they have a place where they can go to support their recovery, apply for a job and interact with other individuals," he said. "I believe whole-heartedly in this model. I've been to the centers and feel very positive about what they're doing."

There are concerns, however, about the sustainability of the centers. The budget committee approved startup funding for the first four centers last year, but made it clear that ongoing funding should come from the communities themselves through local partnerships.

Nevertheless, a request for $200,000 in additional funding for the first four centers was submitted this year, along with the $600,000 request for the four new centers.

Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter did not include the $600,000 line item in his budget recommendation. The Millennium Fund Committee went through four motions Tuesday before finally agreeing on a fifth, which included both line items.

The 10-member committee makes annual recommendations about how to spend a small portion of the Millennium Fund, which represents Idaho's share of the national tobacco lawsuit settlement approved in 2000. The money typically goes for health-related programs, such as tobacco cessation, the Idaho Meth Project and substance abuse prevention.

Sen. Dan Johnson, R-Lewiston, who sits on the committee, went to bat for the recovery centers. He made a motion recommending both funding requests, as well as $200,000 for Recovery Idaho, a proposed nonprofit entity that would administer the various centers.

"I think we need to do this," he said. "I think there's a sound basis for these recovery centers."

Johnson's motion also included several other projects that ranked high and were recommended by the governor, plus $127,700 for a "Fresh Mouth Campaign" proposed by Lewis-Clark State College, which would educate participants about the effects of smoking on oral health.

Sen. Dan Schmidt, D-Moscow, offered an alternative motion that excluded the Recovery Idaho and LCSC line items. Both motions were defeated, along with a third that didn't include funding for the four new recovery centers.

Johnson then made a fourth motion that was identical to his first, except it excluded the Recovery Idaho money. Schmidt also offered another motion, which only included $300,000 for two new centers.

"My question is, how are these centers going to be sustained financially?" Schmidt said after the meeting. "How are they going to be administered and supported? I only have evidence that the Coeur d'Alene and Lewiston centers have broad community support."

The committee defeated his motion and approved Johnson's 6-4. The recommendation now goes to the joint budget committee for approval.

Historically, the budget committee has accepted the Millennium Fund Committee's recommendation. However, given its previous concerns about ongoing funding for the recovery centers, Johnson said there's a chance it will balk this year.

"This (Millennium Fund) was just the first hurdle," he said.

Moreover, House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, recently floated a proposal to use the Millennium Fund money to pay for the governor's Primary Care Access Program proposal, which would provide a modest level of health care coverage for the estimated 78,000 adult Idahoans who earn too much to qualify for Medicaid and too little to qualify for the Obamacare health insurance premium subsidies.

"If Bedke wants to pull the Millennium Fund money, he could do that in a minute," Schmidt said.

The budget committee is scheduled to hear from the Millennium Fund Committee next week. It won't start setting budgets until late February.

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Spence may be contacted at bspence@lmtribune.com or (208) 791-9168.