Less than four days after the resignation of state Sen. Phillip Puckett (D – 38) tipped control of the Senate of Virginia to Republicans, the General Assembly has passed a budget that does not include Medicaid expansion.
Legislators were hung up on the expansion of the program as prescribed by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, more commonly known as Obamacare. Democrats in the Senate of Virginia and the governor’s mansion wanted to expand the program, which they say would bring healthcare coverage to more than 400,000 uninsured Virginians, while Republicans in the House of Delegates opposed the expansion.
Caught in the middle was the state’s budget. Puckett’s resignation gave Republicans control of both houses of the legislature, prompting the swift passage of a budget Thursday. The bill will now head to Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D), who has the power to veto the bill or recommend amendments. If either of those things happen, the bill is returned to the General Assembly for action on his proposed amendments.
Without a budget, the state government will shut down July 1. The implications of a shutdown are not clear, though it could affect K-12 spending. The state of Virginia provides the largest share of operations funding for the York County School Division and a large share of the funding for Williamsburg-James City County Public Schools.
The Historic Triangle delegation voted along party lines. Del. Brenda Pogge (R-96) and Sen. Tommy Norment (R-3) voted for the budget, while Del. Monty Mason (D-93) and Sen. John Miller (D-1) voted against the budget. The bill passed the House of Delegates 69-31 and the Senate of Virginia 21-18.
Pogge and Norment have long opposed Medicaid expansion. They shared their thoughts on the matter with their constituents at a town hall meeting in April.
Further complicating the budget was the announcement Thursday that revenue collection for the state’s general fund — the primary spending account for state business — was down 20.7 percent in May, representing the biggest one-month decline in 13 years. Declining state revenue has caused a projected $1.5 billion revenue shortfall over the next two years.
“I am very pleased that the General Assembly was able to put politics aside and pass a budget to avert a government shutdown,” Del. William Howell (R – 28), the speaker of the House of Delegates, said in a statement. “This is a responsible, conservative budget that closes the $1.5 billion revenue shortfall while protecting investments in some core areas like K-12 education, mental health and the state employee retirement system.”
The budget that passed Thursday addresses the spending shortfall via a mix of cuts to spending increases and usage of the state’s rainy day fund, according to Howell’s statement. YCSD officials discussed the shortfall earlier this month, noting cuts to state spending could affect the revenue flowing to YCSD.
McAuliffe issued a statement late Thursday blasting the General Assembly for passing a budget without Medicaid Expansion.
“This evening’s actions demonstrated how deeply committed Republicans in the General Assembly are to denying 400,000 Virginians access to life saving health care,” McAuliffe said. “Instead of moving forward on a plan to close the coverage gap, the Senate of Virginia moved our Commonwealth backward by violating the terms of the bipartisan agreement they reached in last year’s budget.”
McAuliffe said in the statement he would “carefully” evaluate the budget when it reaches his desk and “take the actions I deem necessary.” He said the fight is “far from over.”
The budget passed by the General Assembly includes language prohibiting the expansion of Medicaid without the explicit approval of the legislature. The statement from Howell said that language is in place to prohibit McAuliffe from trying to expand the program without the approval of the General Assembly.
The expansion of Medicaid would expand the eligibility of the program to more Virginians who lack health insurance. The federal government would pick up the initial cost, however after three years, the state of Virginia would be required to start shouldering 10 percent of the cost.
