Justification
Governor's Recommendations 2023-24

The Governor's Budget Recommendation for Fiscal Year 2023-2024 includes $180,258 and 122,871 in salary rate to provide
additional funding to the Office of General Counsel's Fair Hearing Unit to reclassify three Administrative Assistant
positions to Senior Attorneys. The reclassifying of the Administrative Assistant positions to Senior Attorneys will also
help absorb the increase in workload the Agency continues to experience in public records requests, receiving 4,568 in
Fiscal Year 2019-2020, 4,664 in Fiscal Year 2020-2021 and 4,983 in Fiscal Year 2021-2022. The Agency received 1,534
hearing requests in 2021-2022.

The Fair Hearing Unit conducts all hearings related to the Medicaid program including appeals related to Florida's
Statewide Medicaid Managed Care (SMMC) program and federal waivers. The Agency is required to administer the fair hearing
and render a final order within 90 days of the date of a hearing request and 72 hours for expedited matters. Failure to
comply with federal deadlines could result in withholding of federal Medicaid payments to the state and additional
litigation. Due to the timeframe and the number of requests received the Agency must maintain enough staff to ensure
compliance.

Currently, the Agency's Fair Hearing Unit has three Senior Attorney positions and seven Other Personal Services (OPS)
Attorney positions, with six of the OPS positions vacant. The Agency has struggled to fill the OPS positions experiencing
a 114.29 percent turnover rate since March 2017. The Agency attributes the turnover and vacancies to the positions being
classed as OPS positions. It is not feasible to maintain this number of cases with only three hearing officers.
Reclassifying three Administrative Assistant positions to Senior Attorneys will provide a more sustainable environment
for the Unit and allow for the recruitment and retention of employees.

Justification
Governor's Recommendations 2023-24

These estimated expenditures are operating appropriations authorized by the Legislature in the prior year General
Appropriations Act, adjusted for items vetoed by the Governor, appropriations based on contingencies that did not occur,
and appropriations provided in substantive bills that were passed in the 2022 Legislative Session.  Substantive bills are
bills other than the General Appropriations Act.

Justification
Governor's Recommendations 2023-24

This increase represents the distribution from Administered Funds for adjustments to the state's contribution rates for
the Florida Retirement System for Normal Costs, the Unfunded Actuarial Liability and DROP extension for law enforcement
officers, contained in Chapter 2022-159, Laws of Florida.  These adjustments were effective July 1, 2022.

Justification
Governor's Recommendations 2023-24

This issue increases the minimum wage for eligible state employees and employees filling a position funded through Other
Personal Services to $15.00 per hour. This increase was authorized in Section 8 of the Fiscal Year 2022-23 General
Appropriations Act (Chapter 2022-156, Laws of Florida).

Justification
Governor's Recommendations 2023-24

This issue increases each eligible employees base rate by 5.38 percent to address rising inflation. This pay adjustment
was made before any other pay issues and authorized in Section 8 of the Fiscal Year 2022-23 General Appropriations Act
(Chapter 2022-156, Laws of Florida).

Justification
Governor's Recommendations 2023-24

These estimated expenditures are operating appropriations authorized by the Legislature in the prior year General
Appropriations Act, adjusted for items vetoed by the Governor, appropriations based on contingencies that did not occur,
and appropriations provided in substantive bills that were passed in the 2022 Legislative Session.  Substantive bills are
bills other than the General Appropriations Act.

Justification
Governor's Recommendations 2023-24

This increase represents the distribution from Administered Funds for adjustments to the state's contribution rates for
the Florida Retirement System for Normal Costs, the Unfunded Actuarial Liability and DROP extension for law enforcement
officers, contained in Chapter 2022-159, Laws of Florida.  These adjustments were effective July 1, 2022.

Justification
Governor's Recommendations 2023-24

This issue increases the minimum wage for eligible state employees and employees filling a position funded through Other
Personal Services to $15.00 per hour. This increase was authorized in Section 8 of the Fiscal Year 2022-23 General
Appropriations Act (Chapter 2022-156, Laws of Florida).

Justification
Governor's Recommendations 2023-24

This issue increases each eligible employees base rate by 5.38 percent to address rising inflation. This pay adjustment
was made before any other pay issues and authorized in Section 8 of the Fiscal Year 2022-23 General Appropriations Act
(Chapter 2022-156, Laws of Florida).