Connect with us

Midwest

Missouri lawmakers vote to renew Medicaid program held hostage by monthslong filibuster

Published

on

Missouri lawmakers vote to renew Medicaid program held hostage by monthslong filibuster

Missouri’s GOP-led Legislature on Wednesday renewed a more than $4 billion Medicaid program that had been blocked for months by a Republican faction that used it as a bargaining tool.

The bill which now heads to Gov. Mike Parson will renew a longstanding tax on hospitals and other medical providers.

Money from the tax is used to draw down $2.9 billion in federal funding, which is then given back to providers to care for low-income residents on Medicaid health care.

FILIBUSTER AGAINST $4B MISSOURI MEDICAID BILL ENDS

Because the tax is crucial to the state’s budget, the Senate’s Freedom Caucus had been leveraging the bill to pressure Republican leaders to pass a bill kicking Planned Parenthood off the state’s Medicaid program, which the Legislature did last month.

Advertisement

Later, the Freedom Caucus also demanded that the Legislature pass a measure to raise the threshold for amending the state constitution. Currently, amendments need support from 51% of voters stateswide.

Lawmakers debate on the Missouri House floor in Jefferson City, Missouri, on Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/David A. Lieb)

If approved by voters, the Republican proposal would make it so constitutional amendments also need support from 51% of voters in a majority of congressional districts.

Senate Freedom Caucus members allowed a final Senate vote of approval on the Medicaid tax last week, even though the constitutional amendment change still has not passed the Legislature.

The House took the hospital tax renewal up Wednesday, voting 136-16 to send the measure to Parson.

Advertisement

Democratic House Minority Leader Crystal Quade on Wednesday told colleagues on the chamber floor that the tax is essential “to function as a government” and “provide the most basic services.”

“This shouldn’t be used as a hostage in a terrorist negotiation,” Quade said.

Republican Rep. Tony Lovasco argued that Missouri’s reliance on the tax, and on federal Medicaid funding, hurts the state.

“The fact that we are yet again leaning on the federal government and their manufactured, printed money in order to get by in Missouri is just not a positive,” Lovasco said on the House floor.

Advertisement

Parson is expected to sign the bill.

Read the full article from Here

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Detroit, MI

LGBT Detroit celebrates 30 years of advocacy

Published

on

LGBT Detroit celebrates 30 years of advocacy


LGBT Detroit celebrates 30 years of advocacy – CBS Detroit

Watch CBS News


LGBT Detroit hosted its biggest fundraiser of the year to celebrate 30 years of advocacy. Friday’s event featured the organization’s new documentary, which highlighted some of the organization’s biggest accomplishments over the past 30 years.

Advertisement

Be the first to know

Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.




Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Milwaukee, WI

Another commissioner resigns from the SDC board | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service

Published

on

Another commissioner resigns from the SDC board | Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service


The Social Development Commission’s main office on North Avenue remains closed. Serina Chavez resigned from the agency’s Board of Commissioners on Friday. (Photo by Meredith Melland)

Another commissioner is leaving the Social Development Commission board, as leaders continue to work on a restructuring plan, SDC attorney William Sulton said Friday.

Sulton said Serina Chavez, who was elected to represent SDC’s District 5 and serves as the board’s secretary, indicated that she planned to resign at the Board of Commissioners meeting Thursday at the African American Chamber of Commerce of Wisconsin, 1920 N. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. 

He received her official resignation on Friday. 

“She indicates in her correspondence that essentially that the work that’s necessary is beyond what she is able to commit,” Sulton said. 

Advertisement


Chavez’s resignation follows the departure of four board members, including former board chair Elmer Moore Jr., since SDC suspended operations and laid off its employees in late April.

The all-volunteer board has met frequently since the spring to sort through new information and work on a plan to reopen SDC, handling its day-to-day operations. 

Most of Thursday’s board meeting was spent in closed session.


Here’s more on the SDC

Tax appointments for former SDC clients will close at IRS office on July 24

‘It’s heartbreaking’: Residents, vendors left in limbo after SDC’s closing

Advertisement

SDC’s inconsistent meeting notices raise transparency concerns. Here’s what you need to know.

What you need to know about the SDC’s closing


Meredith Melland is the neighborhoods reporter for the Milwaukee Neighborhood News Service and a corps member of Report for America, a national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on under-covered issues and communities. Report for America plays no role in editorial decisions in the NNS newsroom.





Source link

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Minneapolis, MN

Davide Harabagiu Highlights Night 3 On Minneapolis Futures With 52.95 100 Fly

Published

on

Davide Harabagiu Highlights Night 3 On Minneapolis Futures With 52.95 100 Fly


2024 FUTURES CHAMPIONSHIPS- MINNEAPOLIS

Davide Harabagiu highlighted night 3 of competition in Minneapolis swimming to a 52.95 in the 100 butterfly. That was just off his personal best of a 52.75 from Settecolli in Rome last month. Harabagiu swims collegiately for Minnesota but originally hails from Italy.

Also highlighting the night was Annike Parkhe who swam to a 58.85 in the 100 fly, the only swimming under the 1:00 mark. Parkhe has a best time of a 58.58 that she swam for 13th during prelims of US Olympic Trials last month. She finished 16th in semifinals in a 59.02.

Finishing behind Parkhe in the 100 fly was Grace Rabb who swam a 1:00.28. Later in the session, Rabb earned a win touching in a 2:32.69 in the 200 breast. Rabb, a Florida commit, swam a best time in the 100 fly as her previous best was a 1:01.36. Her 200 breast best time stands at a 2:32.39 from May.

The final winner on the women’s side was Katie McCarthy who won the 400 free in a 4:15.81. McCarthy was 34th in the event at US Trials in a 4:14.90 and has a best time of a 4:14.89.

Advertisement

The men’s 400 free was a battle as Jiarui Xue earned the win in a 3:59.16 touching just ahead of Chase Maier who swam a 3:59.24. Xue has a best time of a 3:59.00 and is committed to Princeton while Maier dropped a huge best time as his previous best was a 4:05.01.

Sirui Wang won the 200 breast in a 2:17.24, almost a five second drop from his previous best of a 2:22.05 from May. He was a 2:22.65 in the event at the last summer.





Source link

Continue Reading

Trending