House’s 71-18 vote stops private option on 4th try

Rep. Sheilla Lampkin D-Monticello gathers with Rep. John Burris (standing) R-Harrison and Rep. Josh Miller R-Heber Springs behind the empty chair of Rep. John Payton, R-Wilburn, who was supposed to be present to cast a “paired” House vote on the private-option funding measure but could not be found.
Rep. Sheilla Lampkin D-Monticello gathers with Rep. John Burris (standing) R-Harrison and Rep. Josh Miller R-Heber Springs behind the empty chair of Rep. John Payton, R-Wilburn, who was supposed to be present to cast a “paired” House vote on the private-option funding measure but could not be found.

For the fourth day in a row, the House of Representatives rejected a funding bill for the state’s private-option Medicaid expansion, as another former supporter announced he would vote against the measure.

The House needs 75 votes to pass Senate Bill 111, which would appropriate $915 million in federal Medicaid dollars to provide private health insurance for about 100,000 poor Arkansans.

But supporters only rounded up 71 votes for the measure, which passed the Senate on Thursday. Eighteen representatives voted “no” while 11 didn’t vote.

House Democrats had discussed blocking all appropriations in response to the lack of movement on the bill, but House Minority Leader Greg Leding, D-Fayetteville, said it was too early to move forward with any plans.

“I don’t think we’re going to commit to a set deadline at this point,” Leding said. “We will take a close look at things Tuesday.”

Leding said at least 73 representatives back the legislation but that two of them - Reps. Stephanie Malone, R-Fort Smith, and Hank Wilkins, D-Pine Bluff - were outside the chamber during the vote.

House Speaker Davy Carter, R-Cabot, who has previously said the House will vote every day on the legislation until it is approved, said he thought “we’re making progress” and that the House would take up the private-option funding bill for the fifth time on Tuesday.

Carter said he still expects the measure to pass.

“We’re going to get this issue resolved and there’s no question to that. There’s 100,000-plus people out there that are literally hanging on [to] what we do up here, and this is serious business and this membership is going to take this seriously,” Carter said.

Carter said it would be “going backwards” to set a drop-dead date to pass the private-option appropriation.

According to the Arkansas Constitution, the Legislature may meet in a fiscal session for up to 30 days, but a session can be extended to 45 days by a three-fourths vote of House and Senate members. Gov. Mike Beebe also can call lawmakers into a special session if the matter isn’t resolved by the end of the fiscal session.

“The Democratic caucus is frustrated, half of the Republican caucus is frustrated, and they all share the view that we’ve got to get this done,” Carter said.

The Senate passed its version of the appropriation bill 27-8 - without a vote to spare - to send it to the House for approval. The bill provides the funding for the state Department of Human Services’ Medical Services Division, which includes the expanded Medicaid program.

The private option is the result of a waiver from President Barack Obama’s administration that authorizes the state to use federal funds from the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - sometimes referred to as Obamacare -to expand Medicaid by paying the private health-insurance premiums for poor Arkansans.

Supporters of the program have said that ending funding for the private option would strip health insurance from people who have recently enrolled in the program. Opponents argue that the federal Affordable Care Act will add to the national debt, and that the state can’t afford the 10 percent cost of the program that it will be required to shoulder beginning in 2020.

The expanded Medicaid program extends private-option eligibility to adults with incomes of up to 138 percent of the poverty level - for example, $15,860 for an individual and $32,500 for a family of four.

Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe has estimated that ending the program will put an $89 million hole in the state’s proposed $5 billion budget for fiscal 2015 because the state would lose out on hundreds of millions of federal Medicaid dollars. But critics say they doubt that eliminating the private option would affect the budget that dramatically.

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House Speaker Davy Carter (right) said Friday that he still expected the private-option measure to pass, calling it “serious business, and this membership is going to take this seriously.”

Rep. Mark Lowery, R-Maumelle, who voted “present” on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, announced Friday that he would be voting for the private-option appropriation. He said the bill was imperfect and the program would require oversight, but he said the state would ultimately benefit from the program.

“I wanted to explain to you and to anyone else who’s listening that the reason I voted present is because I honestly and fervently believed there was an opportunity for the Senate to send to us a bill that would have tweaks, changes, in it that would bring us closer to some level of consensus,” Lowery said.

But at least one supporter of the appropriation last year said he will not be voting for the measure in 2014.

Rep. Les “Skip” Carnine, R-Rogers, said he spoke with Carter on Friday and told him he would not support it and that he has “stayed in the same place” regarding reauthorization of the private option.

“I said at that time to the speaker, ‘I’m sorry that [my “present” vote Thursday] gave you the impression that I had changed or would change.’”

The program would need to be changed to make it palatable, he said. “I’ve always said in this process that I believe there needs to be some compromise beyond what it is right now,” Carnine said.

Carnine had told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette on Wednesday that he wasn’t “hard and fast” against voting for the private option.

“I’m not a strong, strong no. I’m not going to just vote no forever,” Carnine said at the time.

Rep. Mary Lou Slinkard, R-Gravette, who voted for the private-option appropriation last year, did not vote Friday. She did not return a phone message seeking comment Friday afternoon.

House Republican Leader Bruce Westerman, R-Hot Springs, said he had not been approached with any compromise measures to bridge the gap between supporters and foes.

“I’ve heard nothing about [compromise]. It’s been a lot like ping pong and a lot like Obamacare, because it changes constantly,” Westerman said. “The vote I think the second day was more opposed than the first day, the third day less were opposed. Today we picked up two more in opposition. It seems to be hovering just under the approval line.”

Friday’s vote came after a procedural objection by Rep. Debra Hobbs, R-Rogers, to a paired vote between Rep. John Payton, R-Wilburn, and Rep. Reginald Murdock, D-Marianna. (The House allows an absent lawmaker to cast a vote if he pairs it with a lawmaker who is present and voting for the other side.) Murdock, whose vote was a yes, was absent. Payton whose vote was a no, was supposed to show up but couldn’t be located when the vote was taken.

After Hobbs objected, noting that Payton was absent, Carter ordered the Arkansas State Police to find him.

Payton’s presence became irrelevant, however, after Rep. Stephen Meeks, R-Greenbrier, agreed to pair his “no” with Murdock’s “yes” on the voting sheet.

Payton did not return a phone message left at his workplace.

Carter said paired voting was a “common courtesy” allowed for members, and it was “not reasonable whatsoever” for Payton to be absent after signing the voting sheet.

“There are some members that want to play games, but this is going too far. This has gone too far,” Carter said.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/22/2014

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