JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — Despite Democrats spending the final week bringing all business in the chamber to a halt over a spat on a controversial procedural move by Republicans, lawmakers in the upper chamber advanced a measure worth $3.5 billion in federal Medicaid dollars to the state, avoiding a potentially disastrous fallout.
Since last Tuesday, Democrats in the Senate have brought all business to a grinding halt, citing Republicans move to use the rarely-employed PQ motion to end debate on Right-to-Work and force a vote. The minority party had previously promised not to let any other matters come to a vote if Republicans employed the PQ, which the Senate rarely uses to end filibusters. But Republicans, likely in a deliberate calculation, delayed the passage of reauthorization for Missouri’s Federal Reimbursement Allowance (FRA) until after the PQ. Despite Democrat’s strong support for the FRA, they spent the week blocking any vote on the bill in retaliation for the RTW PQ.
But as the final week began to wind to a close, pressure increased on both parties to pass the measure, since failure to do so would leave a gaping hole in the state’s Medicaid funds. Sen. Kurt Schaefer, R-Columbia, said failure to pass it during the session would force him to re-examine Medicaid spending over the summer, potentially preparing to propose massive cuts. Democrats remained firm that they would allow no vote, ask for a special session from Gov. Jay Nixon, and hold out until adjournment.
In the 11th hour, leadership in both chambers came to a tentative agreement to allow the FRA to pass in the final hours of the legislative session under the agreement that no other business would come before the body.
After adjournment, Republicans looked to emphasize the accomplishments of the body prior to the shutdown of the final week, including a sweeping municipal court reform measure, a new school transfers bill, a controversial rollback of TANF benefits, and an omnibus agricultural bill. Democrats said they measured success of the 2015 legislative session by what they were able to block, not pass, including halting an override of a veto of a reduction of unemployment benefits.
The FRA was approved with only 13 votes against it in the House, and now heads to Gov. Jay Nixon’s desk.
Collin Reischman was the Managing Editor for The Missouri Times, and a graduate of Webster University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism.
