The hallway wrangling spilled onto the House floor this week. Couple of highly contentious bills were trying to be maneuvered by means other than just voting on the floor. Things like holding a bill in committee to the last moment before a deadline. The rules book was out several times and the rules committee had to meet a few times trying to interpret the rules. The legislature conducts its business by rule, not by statute. When a motion is made to do something other than routine, the Speaker decides if it’s in order according to the rules. That decision can be objected to, which then sends it to the rules committee. Then sometimes back on the floor for the body to vote to concur with the speaker. I have decided one thing is very clear: the biggest issue with the rule book is attorneys! My solution: send all of them out of the room, let the rest of us decide.
Took a few days for the Medicaid Expansion bill to get through the maneuvering part and it finally passed the House. All sides glad to have this one behind them. Not enough federal money and too many sideboards for those with the majority vote, and the minority voters not comfortable with the long term obligation placed on the taxpayers, which are the middle class… again. Having 20% of our state’s population in some kind of a Medicaid program is not the goal for them. I feel we can’t wait another two years for a better solution, we need to start moving now. And yet, this is not where I think we should be. We can do better. Can we massage this bill in the next few years? I hope so. I was a no vote on the bill.
The mental health care bills that create more community based facilities are still alive, however, the governor is saying he wants to amend them to take away some of the money and put some restrictions in place. Not what the bill sponsor, Rep. Ehli, is going to be pleased with. More wrangling will take place before these are done. These decisions are really important for the future of the programs and for the benefit to the communities, and best of all, benefit to the patients. My guess is Rep. Ehli will get most of what is needed in the end. He is right and the executive branch knows it is very popular with the providers and the communities.
HB-604, my bill to provide maintenance funding for the paved paths, has passed the House and been heard by the Senate committee. If it passes there, the last vote will be on the Senate floor. This is a good solution for a giant headache because there is no funding now, zero, for maintaining over 200 miles of existing paved paths. The federal and state fuel taxes pay for the new construction. But there is no money to maintain. This provides the needed revenue, by creating a $2 fee on our license renewal forms, similar to the State Parks fee there now.
Session ends the last few days of April. All of us are feeling the effects of the warming sun, greening grass, returning birds, and trying to keep our focus on what’s inside this domed building. Cloudy and windy days help.
Rep. Ed Greef, HD-88
Florence