Iowa Governor Terry Branstad has until July 6th to make final decisions on the entire state budget outline legislators sent him earlier this month, but Branstad’s giving strong hints he’ll reject the legislature’s plan to keep the Mental Health Institutes in Clarinda and Mount Pleasant open.

Already last week layoff notices were sent to 28 employees at the state-run Mental Health Institute in Mount Pleasant and 53 M-H-I employees in Clarinda. Branstad says he wants to “move forward” and shift to community-based mental health services.

Legislators from Clarinda and Mount Pleasant made last minute bids to force the state to look for private operators for the mental health institutes.