LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Asa Hutchinson says a plan aimed at allowing him to reinstate Arkansas' hybrid Medicaid expansion if it's defunded is the best chance lawmakers have at quickly resolving a budget standoff over the program.
The Republican governor Friday defended a plan to add a provision to Medicaid's budget that would defund the expansion, which uses federal funds to purchase private insurance for the poor. Hutchinson has said he'll veto that provision if the bill is approved by the Legislature, which would then allow the Legislature to effectively fund the program with a simple majority by upholding his veto.
A legislative committee deadlocked on the backup plan Thursday after the Medicaid budget bill with the expansion funding fell two votes short of the 27 needed for passage in the Senate.
Read Saturday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.