SIDNEY HERALD
-1
Around our area WEDNESDAY, APRIL15, 2015 5A
Lawmakers advance Medicaid
expansion, new state budget
BY MICHAEL WRIGHT Bullock said the bill didn't
COMMUNITY NEWS SERVICE, UM SCHOOL OF JOURNAUSM
After wrangling over
rules, the last remaining bill
to expand Medicaid at the
64th Montana Legislature
appears to be headed to the
governor's desk.
Senate Bill 405, sponsored
by Sen. Ed Buttrey, R-Great
Falls, expands Medicaid to
people earning up to 138
percent of the federal pov-
erty level. It accepts federal
money available under the
Affordable Care Act, asks
some on Medicaid to pay
premiums for their cover-
age and creates job training
programs for recipients
through the Department of
Labor.
A House committee heard
the bill early in the week
and gave it a "do not pass"
recommendation, meaning
it couldn't be debated on the
floor unless 60 representa-
tives voted to do so. House
Minority Leader Chuck
Hunter, D-Helena, objected
to that on the House floor,
saying the bill was'one of
their "silver bullets," refer-
ring to a dealcut at the be-
ginning of the session that
gave Democrats six chances
to bring bills to the House
floor with 51 votes.
Hunter sent a letter to
House Speaker Austin
Knudsen, R-Culbertson,
before the bill's hearing that
designated it as one of their
"silver bullets," and Hunter
argued that because of the
letter, the "do not pass"
report was improper.
That led to a two-day rules
fight that ended up going
Hunter's way. A simple
majority vote blasted the
bill to the House Floor with
support from Democrats
and moderate Republicans.
A long debate similar to
the one seen at every stage
of the battle ensued.
Supporters of Medicaid
expansion said the bill
would provide much needed
coverage, offer the poorest
Montanans help in getting
out of poverty and keep
rural hospitals open by
reducing uncompensated
care costs.
Rep. Frank Garner, R-
Kalispell, said he supports
the bill because it can help
people get out of poverty,
and incentivizes people
to work harder. He added
the bill covers important
groups of people, including
veterans. "I think this is the
one chance we have to try to
help them," Garner said.
Opponents argued it will
cover "able-bodied childless
adults" and gives them ac-
cess to care over those who
are supposed to be on Medic-
aid, the poorest of the poor.
"This is a tragedy espe-
cially for the disabled poor,"
Rep. Nancy Ballance, R-
Hamilton, said. "But also for
the working poor. This bill
is facilitating their depen-
dence on government."
The bill passed 54-42. It
will now head to the gover-
nor's desk.
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BULLOCK VETOES
ANOTHER TAX CUT
Gov. Bullock handed down
another veto on a tax cut bill
last week.
Last Thursday, shortly
after the full House en-
dorsed Medicaid expa~lsion,
Bullock's office announced
his veto of Senate Bill 200,
which would have cut taxes
by almost$80 million over
the next two years.
Knudsen issued a state-
ment after the veto an-
nouncement, calling the
governor "disingenuous"
for not signing the bill,
which Knudsen said gave
significant tax relief to the
middle class.
In the statement, Knud-
sen added the governor has
shown he "does not want
to provide any relief to
the hardworking men and
women across this state"
and only wants to "grow
government and increase
spending."
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provide relief proportion-
ally to taxpayers.
"The majority of it would
have gone to the largest
wage earners in the state,"
Bullock said.
Bullock also said that after
the 2013 session, he had to
veto $150 million of spend-
ing to make sure the budget
was structurally balanced,
and that he didn't want to do
that again. The money for
a tax cut would come out of
the general fund revenue.
The bill, carried by Sen.
Duane Ankney, R-Colstrip,
cleared both Houses in
March on largely party line
votes.
SENATE PASSES
INCREASED BUDGET
After adding more than
$20 million in spending, the
Senate passed House Bill 2,
the state budget.
The bill lines out al~out
$4 billion in general fund
spending over the next Dance
two years. With the Sen-
ate amendments, it spends Mikayla
about $23 million more than
the version passed by the
Hot se last month.
Both senators and the
governor said the budget
had been much improved by
the Senate. '?~ have a tendency to parent
"The bill has moved itself -~
~:~ other people s children. I
toward a better condition like to think it's because
RILL VANDER WEELE I SIDNEY HERALD
competition
Sparks, left, and Audrey Burman perform during the dance competition held at Sidney High School Saturday and Sunday.
at every stage of the jour- I was raised in a southern
ney," said Sen. Llew Jones, home where things ran ac-
R-Conrad, the chair of the cording to tradition.
Senate Finance and Claims As the oldest girl child and
Committee that added most grandchild in the family, I
of the spending increases, was tasked with the job of
"Improvements were cer- being "second mom." I was
tainly made on the Senate the fill in for when mom/
side," Bullock said. But, he nanny's eyes weren't avail-
added there were still more able. It was expected that
things he'd like to see added I "keep an eye.out" for the
to the bill. youngsters whenever I was
One of the parts of his around. Luckily, my mother-
budget proposal that hasn't ing instinct was honed to a
been funded is the $37 mil- razor sharp edge after the
lion for "Early Edge," the birth of my brother. He was
plan to expand preschool, trouble from the get go.
The program would be col- Three cowlicks at the
untary for both schools and crown of his head gave him
students, a wild shock of bright white
Sen. Brad Hamlett, D-Cas- blond hair that would be
cade, triedone amendmenthis trademark for years. I
to fully fund the program, could easily pick him out of
saying full discussion on the a crowd when he turned and
program hadn't happened bolted away from me. I re-
yet. ally don't think my mother
"This is a priority withhas any idea of how many
the administration," Ham- times I lost him over the
lett said. "And we need to years. Lean and fast, ihat
have the discussion." little guy could truck!
Jones, who led the sub- He was given his first
committee that handled the tricycle and forget track. I
education portion of thespent all my time chasing
budget, opposed the amend- behind him. He was reckless
ment, saying it wasn't prov- to the max. Frequently tak-
en to be completely effective ing corners on two wheels,
and mostly helps "at-risk" crashing into parked cars
students and larger school and even at times trying to
districts, jump the ditch. A hug and a
He said it would be hardBand-Aid fixed the tears but
for rural school districts to nothing would break that
hire accredited preschool wild spirit.
teachers. Ditches in the South are
"I am not a supporter ofbig and deep, which means
this version of Early Edge," it was the perfect place to
Jones said. swim and frolic out of the
The amendment failed sun. Who needed a town
along party lines 29-21.pool? Those ditches were
Hamlett brought a secondalso filled with frogs and
amendment that would crawfish a plenty.
have partially funded the It was one hot day and I
program, which also failed was supervising him and
along party lines, his gallon ice cream bucket
In addition to the $23 mil- as he "fished" in the big
lion added to the 2016-2017 ditches outside our high
budget, a Senate committee
also added about $24 mil-
lion to cover deficits in the
2014-2015 budget, usually
included in a different bill
that 'was killed by the House
last month. That money will
prevent furloughs in some
state offices and budget
shortfalls for schools.
The bill will now go to a
House and Senate confer-
ence committee to hammer
out final details before it's
sent to the governor.
Michael Wright is a reporter for
the
Community News Service at the
Universily of Montana School of
Journalism. He can be reached at
michael.wrigh umontana.edu.
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433-4757 Toll Free 1-866-433-4757
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Accidental parenting
school foot-
ball stadium.
Barefoot,
blond hair
blowing in
the wind, his
frustration at
not catching
Outside anything
made him
living in careless in
his footing.
' Kolynn Brazed I wasn't fast
enough to
grab his arm
to prevent the full facedown
fall into the mhrky water.
When I snatched him up,
it was all I could do to not
scream. There hanging
from his little nose was a
tiny little claw. Completely
oblivious to the fact that
his face was now hosting a
live creature, he screamed
when I squeezed his nose
hard and yanked that little
crayfish out.
Then there was the time
he was stuck between two
aisles inside the grocery
store. The huge display cas-
es that are pushed back to
back to hold grocery items
apparently have access
areas at the ends. I know
this because chasing him
through the grocery store, I
was completely frustrated to
not see him anywhere. Then
suddenly directly behind the
Best Food's Mayo came his
little taunting voice. He ran
down through the vinegars
and oils before stopping at
the barbecue sauces before
I was able to flag down a
store employee to assist me
in removing him from the
inner-workings of the aisle.
My mothe thought we were
in the bathroom.
He hated regular food. He
tried to exist solely on chick-
en nuggets and peas for
years. Peas were only eaten
after they were .mixed with
a healthy (gag) helping of
'1 really don't think my
mother has any idea of
how many times I lost
him over the years.
Lean and fast, that little
guy could truck!'
Kalynn Brazed
Columnist
i i i ii iiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiiii
mayo and hot sauce (yeah as
a toddler) and his preferred
bowl was an empty whipped
cream container that never
seemed to get thrown away.
My mother would often
come home from work to
find him eating from that
bowl, dressed in his super-
man underwear with a
towel tired around his neck
Z L
71117 i "
[]
as a cape watching TV. She
would smile and ruffle that
hair, then pass me a treat for
being a good big sister.
He was stubborn, free-
willed and a big blessing to
my life. The older I got, the
more I looked forward to his
escapades. One thing was
sure, whenever my own chil-
dren would eventually come
along, nothing really topped
his adventures. His ability
to sniff out trouble eventu-
ally faded as he grew by
the time I went away to col-
lege he was learning to be a
teenager.
Although today he stands
heads over me and is no
longer needing me to extract
him from one mess or anoth-
er, in my mind, he'll always
be that little wild headed
blonde boy riding his little
red tricycle as fast and far
from me as he could.
Kalynn Brazeal writes and lives
'in Sidney.
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