District 9 lawmakers hold townhall

State lawmakers are currently wrestling with how to fund the state’s matching portion of Medicaid expansion with no clear answer yet, a legislator who serves on a money committee said.

 Voters approved Proposition 2 in November to expand the federal program and cover Idahoans in the health care gap, but they did not provide directions on where to get the funds, state Sen. Abby Lee, R-Fruitland, told constituents in Midvale on Saturday.

 Lee, along with District 9 Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, and Ryan Kerby, R-New Plymouth, addressed the Medicaid expansion, hemp bill and other legislation at the  statehouse during a series of townhall meetings on Saturday that started in Council and finished in Payette.

 Lawmakers are debating if any sort of work rules should be part of the requirements for the Medicaid expansion and where the money should come from. 

 The Medicaid expansion will require the state to pay 10 percent of the costs in matching funds. Under the 90-10 arrangement, the federal government will pay $400 million to Idaho and Idaho comes up with $40 million.

 Lee, who sits on the Joint Finance and Appropriations Committee, said budgetwriters are looking at agency requests closely as state revenues come in lower than projected. 

 Gov. Brad Little has said the Medicaid expansion will be funded. He has also told lawmakers that he wants the Medicaid measure resolved before they go home in March.

 Boyle and Kerby said they had issues with the potential that Medicaid expansion will move people off the state health insurance exchange, where they can buy private health insurance, and onto the government program. 

 The intent of Medicaid expansion passed by voters is to provide health care for the “gap” population in Idaho. They are residents who make too much to qualify for the existing Medicaid program in Idaho but don’t make enough to qualify for any premium subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. There are an estimated 60,000 Idahoans in the “gap.”

 “We have got to figure out how to fund it. We still have to come up with state dollars to match,” Boyle said.

 A member of the audience at the townhall session in Midvale and a proponent of the Medicaid expansion said the program will bring back to Idaho the dollars that taxpayers already paid to the federal government.

 Lee said coming up with the $40 million in Medicaid matching funds will possibly come at the expense of fully funding other state programs. Maybe the state won’t fund the catastrophic health program that provides money to counties.

 She said it would be “arrogant” of lawmakers to ignore the majority of voters in the state who voted for Medicaid expansion, but voters did not pass a sales tax increase or any other tax to fund the $40 million in Medicaid matching money.

 “We’re having to do a new program with the same amount of revenue,” she said. “Voters didn’t give us clear direction on how to fund it.”

 Lee said Idaho’s population growth has already increased the state’s Medicaid bill by $17 million more than was budgeted. On top of that, state lawmakers will have to find the $40 million matching money.

 Ryan said lawmakers will fund Medicaid expansion, but it has not been completed yet. The legislation should include incentives, a “bridge” program, that motivates people to work and get off Medicaid and buy health insurance through the state exchange.

 He said a concern of his is that people will get on Medicaid through the expansion and stay there because it’s free medical coverage. 

 Also of interest to ag counties in Idaho, Lee is working with Boyle, chairman of the House Agriculture Committee, and other lawmakers on a hemp bill to give Idaho growers additional cash crop options. 

 The federal farm bill allows growing hemp and Idaho needs to bring its laws in alignment with what Congress passed. The governor and law enforcement also are participating in an Idaho hemp bill.

 The state is looking at defining hemp as .3 percent or less of THC. Anything above that would be classified as marijuana. It also requires rewriting laws on interstate commerce to allow the transportation of hemp across state lines. 

 “We have the ability to craft what will work for Idaho,” Lee said.

 Boyle chairs the House Agriculture Committee and is also working on the hemp bill. 

 She said she is encouraged that the governor wants to eliminate red tape in the state by eliminating two rules or regulations for every new one.

 A member of the House Judiciary Rules Committee, Kerby is championing a bill that he said will save counties money in the state by diverting first-time DUI offenders from jail and some court hearings.

 Kerby said dangerous criminals should be locked up, but he supports alternatives for DUI offenders that would save money by not having to pay for public defenders and other judicial costs.

 The DUI offender would sign a contract to abide by the rules of the diversion program and also would be required to pay for an ignition interlock device on their vehicle for one year. The offender also would have to do work detail and take three days of educational classes.

 “We’re trying to change people’s behavior,” he said.

 Kerby and Boyle also serve on the House Education Committee that is involved in rewriting the school funding formula. Funding public education takes half of the state’s budget, or about $1.9 billion annually. The bottom line is some districts are going to get more money and some will get less.

 “I’m trying to fight for the small districts,” he said.

 The three lawmakers were also asked about the grocery tax, which has been targeted for elimination during numerous legislative sessions. 

 It’s unlikely to be repealed during this session of the Legislature because taxes and other state revenue is coming in lower than forecast. Before the sales tax is repealed, the state has to figure out a way to make up the lost revenue.

 “You have to have the money to pay for it,” Kerby said.