Happy Monday - GOOD NEWS... A legislative oversight panel this afternoon is expected to approve Gov. John Kasich’s effort to bypass the Republican-controlled General Assembly and expand tax-funded health coverage to 275,000 poor uninsured Ohioans. To help ensure it gets the needed votes, Speaker William G. Batchelder, R-Medina, this morning replaced Rep. Cliff Rosenberger of Clarksville with Rep. Ross McGregor of Springfield. Speculation focused on McGregor last week, and he said that as a moderate, term-limited Republican, he was a logical choice if the speaker wanted to make a swap. McGregor said he expects to support the request, while Rosenberger had said he was not going to vote for the expansion funding. Batchelder also replaced Rep. Rob Amstutz, R-Wooster, with Rep. Jeff McClain, R-Upper Sandusky, though McClain is expected to vote no. There has been ongoing speculation that Amstutz and Rosenberger would be replaced on the board to avoid voting on the politically contentious Medicaid issue while the two are locked in a battle to replace Batchelder as speaker in 2015. The seven-member Controlling Board, which oversees government spending, is scheduled to vote on authorizing the expenditure of $2.56 billion in federal funds through June 30, 2015, money available to Ohio through President Barack Obama’s health care law. The vote comes 10 days after Kasich announced he would circumvent the legislature which has been unwilling to approve the Medicaid expansion. Batchelder placed a “yes” vote on the Controlling Board even though he was one of 39 House Republicans last week who filed a formal protest of Kasich’s action, arguing that it violated the “ clear intent” of the General Assembly. Some House Republicans and outside conservative groups are threatening to sue Kasich if the Controlling Board approves his request. See the full list of Republicans who signed the letter: dispatch/content/stories/local/2013/10/17/List-of-Republicans-sign-Medicaid-expansion-opposition.html
Posted on: Mon, 21 Oct 2013 16:16:14 +0000
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