The $10.6 billion health and human services finance bill cleared the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday morning. The revamped proposal -- which repeals the early expansion of Medicaid for roughly 90,000 poor, childless adults -- passed on a largely party-line 16-11 vote.

The most important single word in the health and human services bills being considered by the GOP-controlled Legislature is "waiver." Both the House and Senate proposals - although markedly different - rely on significant cost savings achieved by obtaining a global waiver from the federal government to remake the state's Medicaid program. The House is looking to book $300 million in savings, while the Senate anticipates cutting costs by roughly $600 million through relief from federal Medicaid mandates.

A provision repealing early adoption of the Medicaid expansion will be added to the House finance bill, according to Rep. Jim Abeler, chair of the Health and Human Services Finance Committee.

The health and human services budget bills working their way through the House and Senate share a couple of significant details. Most notably, the proposals are close in their cutting targets ($1.6 billion in the House, $1.8 billion in the Senate). And both bills' fiscal spreadsheets depend on the prospect of receiving a waiver from the federal government for a substantial portion of the spending reductions they promise.

DFL Gov. Mark Dayton said that it is a "fantasy island" scenario for Republicans to believe that the state will receive a waiver from the federal government in time for the start of the next biennium in July.

Department of Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson sent a letter to Rep. Jim Abeler today chastising him for the lack of fiscal notes scrutinizing key provisions of the House's health and human services finance bill. Specifically Jesson took issue with four provisions designed to save $1.2 billion -- roughly 75 percent of the GOP's overall budget reduction target -- that haven't been thoroughly vetted by fiscal staff.

House GOP leaders released "phase one" of their proposed budget for health and human services on Monday morning. The proposal calls for spending $10.7 bill during the next biennium, a reduction of $1.6 billion from the projected health and human services budget.

Rep. Bob Barrett has introduced legislation that would merge the state Health and Human Services agencies. Under the freshman Republican's proposal the consolidation would be completed no later than June 1, 2012.

On Monday morning Gov. Mark Dayton and the GOP-controlled Legislature received an unexpected $1.2 billion gift. The announcement that the state's historic budget deficit had shrunk by nearly 20 percent was welcome news to all sides.

Republicans originally planned to make their first round of cuts stick. As introduced, their $1 billion budget cutting bill made permanent reductions to programs like local government aid (LGA), health and human services and higher education that had been temporarily cut as part of the state's 2010 budget agreement. But in the first House committee hearing on the proposal, an amendment brought by House Taxes Chairman Greg Davids changed the bill to make the $480 million-plus in LGA cuts a one-time reduction, reverting back to previous levels starting in fiscal year 2014.