Editorial by Representative Tommy Thompson - The 2011 session of the Kentucky General Assembly recently came to a close, and I am pleased to report that several important bills passed the session, including major reforms to the corrections system for drug offenders (HB 463), legislation addressing selection of school principals (SB 12), one-stop business services (SB 8) and prevention of elder abuse (HB 52), just to name a few.
I would like to also note three bills that I strongly supported passed the House but died in the Senate.
House Bill 225, which aimed to increase educational attainment in the commonwealth by raising Kentucky’s school dropout age to 18, passed the House with strong bipartisan support, but unfortunately did not pass in the Senate.
The House also unanimously passed House Bill 3, which would have cracked down on illegal immigration by requiring companies doing business with the state to use the E-Verify system to ensure that none of their employees are illegal immigrants.
And House Bill 58 would have required an ignition interlock device to be installed on the offender’s car (at their expense), which would drastically cut down on DUI crashes. This bill passed the House unanimously but was not even given a vote in the Senate. The legislation was met with strong support from both Democrats and Republicans in the House, because it was viewed as an effort to help save lives in Kentucky. In 2009, 203 innocent people were killed and 27,157 were convicted of drunk driving.
It is my hope that these measures will be considered again in 2012 and that they receive passage by both chambers.
Several bills were passed to make government more transparent and efficient. Other pieces of legislation that passed were geared to improving efficiencies in health care and making treatment more accessible and affordable.
Unfortunately, the General Assembly was unable to agree on how to resolve a shortfall in the Medicaid budget, necessitating a special session. The House presented a plan early in the session. Through traditional and genuine legislative negotiations, this issue should have been resolved. Sadly, the politics of the upcoming gubernatorial election got in the way of good public policy.
The House of Representatives, with strong support from both Democrats and Republicans, proposed legislation to resolve a $140 million deficit in the Medicaid budget by moving funds from the second year of the budget up to the current year, including an additional $26.5 million to take advantage of enhanced rates for federal matching funds that will expire at the end of June. Accessing the higher match rates by itself would save $12 million in state funds. The governor’s plan also included implementing managed care programs that will reduce Medicaid spending next fiscal year.
The Senate was unwilling to negotiate on the proposal to move the funds and create large savings to take care of the Medicaid shortfall within the Medicaid program itself. Instead, they wanted to slash government without any regard for the consequences and the fact that a viable alternative was available. Gov. Beshear has already made eight rounds of cuts to the state budget and deserves a chance to apply the managed care model to cut costs within Medicaid, like other states are doing to offset their own shortfalls in Medicaid funding. This dilemma is not unique to Kentucky. The state legislatures and governors of more than a dozen other states are working together to overcome their Medicaid budget shortfalls.
The Senate proposal contained across-the-board cuts to education that included local school districts and colleges and universities. School districts are already struggling and college tuition would increase. The Senate’s proposal would result in estimated cuts in state dollars this fiscal year to the school districts serving the 14th District of an approximate $270,998 to Ohio County, $668,282 to Daviess County and $272,396 to Owensboro.
Both Democrats and Republicans in the House agreed that the budgets for education, corrections, public safety, state police and social services should not be cut further. The problem exists within the Medicaid budget. No other component of the total budget is out of balance.
The problem did not lie in a revenue shortfall. In fact, an economist testified at the joint Senate and House Free Conference Committee meeting during the special session that our revenues in Kentucky are improving. The problem was in Medicaid, and we could fix the problem within the Medicaid budget by allowing the governor the ability to manage it, just as previous administrations have done.
If the Medicaid budget shortfall was not addressed by April 1, more than 8,400 doctors offices, 1,300 pharmacies, 300 nursing homes and 80 hospitals would be hit so hard that many might be at risk of layoffs and facility closures.
So to avoid deadlock, cuts to doctors and hospitals and education, the House agreed with the Senate’s Medicaid budget fix proposal after assurances from Gov. Beshear that he would veto specific sections to mirror the original House plan that was preferred by more than 70 percent of the members of the Kentucky General Assembly.
I appreciate this opportunity to share my perspective on the recently concluded regular and special sessions of the 2011 Kentucky General Assembly. It is a privilege to serve the citizens of the 14th District, and I welcome your comments and suggestions going forward as we address issues that affect our quality of life and economic opportunities. Please call me at (502) 564-8100.
This editorial appeared in the Messenger-Inquirer on April 27, 2011. Click here to view the article.
