Eggs and Issues for March 9, 2013
Larry Sheets (R) (Far Right) speaks at Eggs and Issues earlier this year. (file photo)
by CRI
Oskaloosa, Iowa – Iowa lawmakers are moving forward with priority bills now that “funnel week” is past. That’s one topic covered in this week’s “Eggs and Issues” political forum. The forum is held at Smokey Row in Oskaloosa every two weeks during Iowa’s legislative session.
It’s a way for local lawmakers to keep in touch with and ask questions from constituents. All three lawmakers including Representative Guy Vander Linden, Representative Larry Sheets, and Senator Ken Rozenboom attended the forum.
Funnel week is a self-imposed deadline lawmakers use to narrow down the number of bills under consideration. Since the Legislature typically meets for four months at the beginning of the year, lawmakers use the “funnel” to debate bills in subcommittees and committees. Bills lacking enough support to make it out of major committees are then considered dead for the year. Certain topics including the state budget, education and health care issues are still “alive” in the Legislature. Bills on those topics and more were passed out of committees.
Medicaid expansion was one of the more popular topics during this session of “Eggs and Issues”. States can expand Medicaid to include more eligible people for that type of health insurance under federal health care reform. Iowa Governor Terry Branstad has resisted expanding Medicaid because he says it will be too expensive, will fall to Iowa taxpayers to, and runs the risk of not being funded by the federal government because that government is running deep deficits. This past week, Branstad unveiled his own plan to cover more Iowans with health insurance. He calls it the “Healthy Iowa Plan”. It includes insuring 89,000 low-income Iowans with the help of the state and federal government. Medicaid expansion would cover 150,000 Iowans. The head of Mahaska Health Partnership, Jay Christensen, pressed the local lawmakers at “Eggs and Issues” on how they feel about Medicaid expansion. Senator Ken Rozenboom and Representative Guy Vander Linden say they think the state needs to be very careful about expanding Medicaid. They say all lawmakers want to help people who don’t have health insurance, but they don’t think paying for Medicaid is sustainable and would strap Iowans and the state financially. The topic is still on the table at the Legislature. Lawmakers say debate on how to handle the issue is coming. You can watch the entire session of “Eggs and Issues” below:
