To: All State-Funded Member Organizations

MEMO

Date: February 6, 2015

To: All State-Funded Member Organizations

From: Jeff Shaw,Director of Public Policy

Re: TESTIMONY TEMPLATE –Public Hearing February 10, 2015 onHB No. 6465 – Increase Funding in Purchase of Service Contracts.

In an effort to assist you to advocate on behalf of your agency please use the attached testimony template specific to:

WHAT: H.B. No. 6465:HB 6465, An Act Concerning Purchase of Service Contracts.

To ensure all purchase of service contracts and Medicaid fee for service accounts reflect the actual

cost of services provided in relation to reasonable increases in the consumer price index or inflation.

WHY:Legislators need to hear how financially difficult the last few years have been for nonprofit providers,

both from the employer and employee perspective. Nonprofits must show up in impressive numbers,

or policymakers will not support any funding increases and it will be more difficult to take our future

funding requests seriously. Please re-arrange your schedule on Tuesday and join us at

the Legislative Office Building at 10:00am to tell the Human Services Committee, “It’s Time to

Adequately Fund Nonprofit Providers.”

WHEN: The Human Services Committee will hold a public hearing regarding HB No. 6465on Tuesday, February10, 2015 at 12:00 P.M. in Room 2A of the LOB. Prior to the public hearing, the Nonprofit AllianceLegislative Briefing on this reportwill occur at 10:00am in Room 2C. Please feel free to utilize the template below and/or any portion of the information included, in any manner you choose.

HOW:We suggest the following process for submitting testimony:

• Add a personalized message /suggested information, as indicated in red.
• Use your agency letterhead for suggested testimony
• Please submit your completed template/testimony directly to the Human Services Committee in Word or PDF format via email: (please copy me )
• Be sure to share testimony electronically with your local legislator(s), with a personal note. To find you legislator’s contact information:Click here -Find your Legislator
• I can review testimony if you wish, or simply run the necessary number of copies (35) of YOUR testimony, and submit on your behalf to the appropriate committee.
• Staff will be available tosign anyone interested in testifying in person in the afternoon.

A note about the Human Services Public Hearing: Sign-up for the hearing will begin at 8:30 A.M. and conclude at 10:00 A.M. in Second Floor Atrium of the LOB. Please submit 35 copies of written testimony to Committee staff no later than 10:00 A.M. in the Second Floor Atrium of the LOB. Testimony received after the designated time may not be distributed until after the hearing. Please email written testimony in Word or PDF format to . Testimony should clearly state testifier name and related Bills (HB-6465).

Refer to Template Below

Testimony Submitted to the Human Services Committee:

H.B. No. 6465: An Act Concerning Purchase of Service Contracts

Submitted By: Name, Position, Organization

Public Hearing Date: February 10, 2015

Senator Moore, Representative Abercrombie, Senator Markley, Representative Wood and distinguished members of the Human Services Committee, my name is (Who you are, title, services provided by your agency ______. )We are among the 500+ member agencies of the Connecticut Association of Nonprofits (CT Nonprofits.)

I would like to share my support for H.B. 6465, An Act Concerning Purchase of Service Contracts. This bill asks the Governor and legislators to appropriately fund nonprofit providers by including an increase, commonly referred to as a cost of living adjustment, in all future Purchase of Service (POS) contracts and Medicaid fee-for service accounts consistent with the average annual growth of the Consumer Price Index or inflation. This increase in funding is necessary because the state has failed to adequately fund nonprofit providers for the last two decades forcing many nonprofits to close, compete against one another for scarce resources, layoff employees, reduce benefit packages; altogether creating a win or lose system that weakens the entire nonprofit sector and threatens its sustainability.

As an example, my organization (provide a few examples/stories of why it has been difficult to do your job over the last few years due to lack of funding.)

This legislation makes a commitment to address those issues by properly investing in the nonprofit sector, a commitment the state has already made through 1,585 POS contracts serving approximately 500,000 residents (15% of the population) among ten state agencies totaling $1.38 billion or 7.3% of the state budget. While any increase in funding may seem impossible in these tough budget years, policymakers simply can’t afford not to do this. Our employees are some of the hardest working professionals across the state and have had to bear the burden of underfunding, going years without salary increases while simultaneously watching benefit packages deteriorate.

Consequentially, many of us struggle to keep a quality workforce, as we experience high turnover with employees considering state employment or similar jobs providing higher wages and better benefits. In turn, high turnover adversely affects the clients we serve who have grown comfortable with their nurse, social worker, roommate or mentor. The reality is that the health and human service nonprofit providers have been continuously underfunded over the past two decades, pushing many of us to our breaking point.

This bill represents an opportunity to improve the quality of life and economic activity in your communities for your constituents. Investing in nonprofit providers will improve service delivery, increase economic activity, and save taxpayer money. This bill is a “win-win” for policymakers working to strengthen the economy, the nonprofit workforce trying to make ends meet, and the clients (and their families) who receive cost-effective, high-quality and efficient services from nonprofit providers. I ask for your commitment now to require that future nonprofit-government contracts are tied to the growth in CPI and/or inflation to ensure adequate funding of contracted services.

Thank you again for your time and consideration. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions, or for additional information.

Contact information _____Name, Organization, Address, Phone, Email______

75 Charter Oak Avenue, Suite 1 -100♦ Hartford, CT 06106♦ Tel:860.525.5080 ♦