House tables vote to override governor's veto; Local legislators explain why their voted for, against bill to expand Kancare

Kansas legislators have postponed a vote to override Republican Gov. Sam Brownback's veto of a bill that would have expanded the state's Medicaid program.

Supporters of the bill launched an effort Thursday to override the veto in the House shortly after Brownback announced his action, an Associated Press story said.

"After a lengthy debate on overriding the veto, there was a motion to table it," District 2 Rep. Adam Lusker, a Democrat, said during a telephone interview Thursday.

Lusker said he voted in favor of the bill, HB 2044, which would have extended the state's health coverage for the poor, disabled and elderly under former President Barack Obama's signature health care law to cover up to 180,000 more adults.

District 4 Rep. Trevor Jacobs, a Republican, voted against the bill.

"There was much discussion on the floor of the House from both sides of the spectrum of expanding Obamacare for the state of Kansas," Jacobs said in an e-mail Friday. "Representative Russ Jennings introduced the motion to table the discussion of the veto until Monday, April 3. The majority of the House agreed with the motion."

Lusker said he supported the bill to help protect, in particular, rural hospitals like Mercy Hospital Fort Scott and residents of rural communities.

"Mercy Hospital in Fort Scott is next on the list," he said. "It's something a majority of the state wants. It passed out of the House by 81 votes and passed on the Senate side, by overwhelming majorities and the governor vetoed it."

In February, the bill passed 81-44 in the House and was received and introduced in the Senate Feb. 23. The bill passed on final action in the Senate by a vote of 25-14 on March 28. It was enrolled and presented to the governor Wednesday. Brownback vetoed the bill and returned it to the House on Thursday, according to www.kslegislature.org.

HB 2044 was first introduced in the House Jan. 12 and was referred to the Committee on Health and Human Services.

"I voted in favor of the bill," Lusker said. "It's really important especially in rural Kansas and really all of Kansas, all the working people it expands to, and the elderly as well," he said. "It does a lot of good things for residents of Kansas, keeps hospitals open and communities intact."

Lusker said lawmakers Thursday voted 81-43 to table discussion on overriding the veto.

When the legislature gave final approval to the measure Tuesday, it had strong bipartisan majorities in both chambers, but supporters were short of the two-thirds majorities necessary to override a veto. Lusker said lawmakers will eventually bring it back to the table to try for an override.

"I think we'll bring it off the table," he said. "We have 30 days from today (Thursday) to do that."

District 12 Senator Caryn Tyson, Republican, voted against HB2044.

"I've said that we need a Kansas solution, and this was not a Kansas solution, this was just a blanket acceptance of ObamaCare," Tyson said. "It would expand Kancare, which there's several people that have problems with the Kancare system, we'd be adding to that."

She said the main reason she voted against the bill was the $81 million that would be allocated to cover Kancare expenses.

"The reality is the money just is not there right now," Tyson said.

She said she would like the bill to also include mental health, drug abuse and disabilities.

She said Indiana included a waiver in their healthcare expansion bill that stated if an individual did not pay their premium, instead of falling back on the state, the individual would lose the benefit for six months until the premium is paid.

"I know it sounds harsh, but these are working individuals that are obligated to pay a portion," Tyson said. "We didn't talk about any of those scenarios."

If the override reaches the Senate, there would need to be 27 votes to reach the two-third majority, she said.