Advisory Task Force on Waiver Reimagine minutes

Date: July 21, 2026

Attendees

Support staff

Calla Oftedahl, Anna Yesberger, Frances Van Houten, Katie Pratt and Elian Sorensen

Advisory Task Force on Waiver Reimagine members

Rev. Katrin Bachmeier, Jennifer Ballinger, Tricia Brisbane, Kris Erickson, Linda Fairchild, Heidi Hamilton, Lisa Harrison-Hadler, Dr. Katrina Jirik, Jenna Johnson, Julie Johnson, Meredith McKinnon, Jenn Purrington, Gretchen Spier, Mor Vue and Chad Wilson

Meeting objectives

· The Advisory Task Force on Waiver Reimagine planned to spend July’s meeting discussing the individual budget ranges based on the most recent recalibration. However, DHS and their contractor the Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) need additional time to work on the budget methodology and are not yet ready to share the work with the task force. DHS intends to share an update at the August meeting.

· The task force agreed on the following meeting objectives:

Align on the task force's statutory duties.

Understand the three possible components of participants’ funding plans and discuss.

Hear about DHS’s proposed budget exception categories and criteria.

Share updates.

Welcome

· The regular July meeting of the ATFWR was held virtually via Cisco Webex. Frances Van Houten, the meeting facilitator, provided a general overview of the meeting agenda and attendee expectations.

DHS presentation: Exceptions to the budget range

Calla Oftedahl shared a presentation on budget exceptions, covering the following topics:

· The purpose of budget exceptions and their relationship to the budget ranges.

· The development status of the budget exception process.

· Draft types and criteria for budget exceptions for each waiver type.

· Key questions for the task force to consider.