Research Briefing

DNC Chairman Kaine Says Obama’s Health Care Experiment Is Good For State Budgets, But Governor Kaine Should Know Better

THIS MORNING: DNC CHAIRMAN TIM KAINE CLAIMS OBAMA’S HEALTH CARE EXPERIMENT WILL MEAN “STATE BUDGETS ARE GOING TO SAVE DOLLARS.” “I looked at this very carefully in connection with the Virginia budget … state budgets are going to save dollars that we’re spending now to try to pull people back from the brink of sickness that they need not be suffering under with a better health care system. I think Virginia stands to benefit much as do other American states from finally passing meaningful health care reform.” (NBC’s "Meet The Press," 1/10/10)

BUT FELLOW DEM GOVERNORS KNOW BILL IS “MOTHER OF ALL UNFUNDED MANDATES”

Gov. Phil Bredesen (D-TN) Calls Dems’ Health Care Experiment “Mother Of All Unfunded Mandates.” “[Bredesen] feared Congress was about to bestow ‘the mother of all unfunded mandates.’ ‘Medicaid is a poor vehicle for expanding coverage … It’s a 45-year-old system originally designed for poor women and their children. It’s not health care reform to dump more money into Medicaid.’” (Kevin Sack and Robert Pear, “Governors Fear Medicaid Costs In Health Plan,” The New York Times, 7/20/09)

• Bredesen: “Nobody’s Going To Put Their State Into Bankruptcy Or Their Education System In The Tank For It.” “I can’t think of a worse time for this bill to be coming … nobody’s going to put their state into bankruptcy or their education system in the tank for it.” (Shailagh Murray, “States Resist Medicaid Growth,” The Washington Post, 10/5/09)

Gov. David Paterson (D-NY) “Deeply Troubled” By Dems’ Bill. “After the Senate passed the bill in a Christmas Eve vote, Paterson said the expansion would leave New York $1 billion in the lurch ... ‘[I] am deeply troubled that the Senate version of the bill worsens what was already an inequitable situation for New York and I will continue to be an advocate on behalf of New Yorkers to ensure we are treated fairly by this critical federal legislation,’ Paterson said in a statement.” (Alex Isenstadt, “Blue State Govs. Rip Senate Health Bill,” Politico, 12/29/09)

Gov. Ed Rendell (D-PA): “I Don’t Think It’s An Accounting Trick, I Think It’s An Unfunded Mandate … We Just Don’t Have The Wherewithal To Absorb That Without Some New Revenue Source …” (CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” 9/3/09)

Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D-WY) Says Dems’ Bill Not “Cost-Effective Or Efficient.” “Freudenthal said expanding Medicaid may be a quick way to get coverage for the uninsured, but it’s far from the most cost- effective or efficient … ‘If you have 47 million people who don’t have coverage in the country, and your goal is to get coverage for those people, you can’t come to us and say that it’s not going to cost society anything.’” (“Medicaid Expansion May Be Budget Buster,” The Wyoming Tribune Eagle, 7/27/09)

Gov. Christine Gregoire (D-WA) Concerned That “If We Try To Cost-Shift To The States We’re Not Going To Be In A Position To Pick Up The Tab...” (Kevin Sack And Robert Pear, “Governors Fear Medicaid Costs In Health Plan,” The New York Times, 7/20/09)

Gov. Joe Manchin (D-WV) Says “Under No Conditions Can We Take Unfunded Mandates. You Can’t … Put A $100 Billion Back On The States To Pick Up.” (“Governor Manchin Joins Counterparts In Mississippi,” [West Virginia] Metro News, 7/20/09)

Gov. Bev Perdue (D-NC) Says An “Absolute Deal Breaker For Me As Governor Is A Federal Plan That Shifts Costs To The States.” (“Perdue: Don’t Give States The Bill,” [Raleigh, NC] News & Observer, 7/21/09)

Gov. Bill Richardson (D-NM): “We Can’t Afford That, And That’s Not Acceptable.” (“Govs Resist Added Federal Expenses From Congress,” The Associated Press, 7/19/09)

Gov. Bill Ritter (D-CO) Concerned With Whether Dems “Have Fully Figured Out A Revenue Stream That Would Cover The Costs, And That If They Don’t Have All The Dollars Accounted For It Will Fall On The States ...”  (Kevin Sack And Robert Pear, “Governors Fear Medicaid Costs In Health Plan,” The New York Times, 7/20/09)

Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D-MT) Dems Bill Just “Another Situation Where The Federal Government Says You Must Do X And You Must Pay For It.” (“Many Governors Against Health Care Bill, Label It Unfunded Mandate,” Fox News, 7/19/09)

Gov. Ted Strickland (D-OH) Says States “Are Not In A Position To Accept Additional Medicaid Responsibilities” From Dems’ Bill. “Still, Strickland warned on a recent visit to Washington that ‘the states, with our financial challenges right now, are not in a position to accept additional Medicaid responsibilities.’ … he added that if Medicaid is expanded, he hopes to ‘see the federal government assume the greater portion of the costs, if not the total costs.’” (“Expansion Of Medicaid Could Impose Costs On Ohio,” The Columbus Dispatch, 10/7/09)

AND GOP GOVERNORS CALLING ON DEMS FROM THEIR STATES TO OPPOSE OBAMA’S BILL

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA) Urges California’s Congressional Delegation To Vote Against Bill That Pushes “More Costs Onto States That Are Already Struggling.” “And now Congress is about to pile billions more onto California with the new health care bill … it is not reform to push more costs onto states that are already struggling while other states are getting sweetheart deals … California’s congressional delegation should either vote against this bill that is a disaster for California or get in there and fight for the same sweetheart deal that Senator Nelson of Nebraska got for the Cornhusker State.” (Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R-CA), State Of The State Address, 1/6/10)

Gov. Dave Heineman (R-NE) Urged Sen. Ben Nelson (D-NE) To Oppose Reid’s Bill Because Unfunded Mandate Would Hurt Nebraska. “The governor said Wednesday that a new analysis by Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services indicates that while state spending on Medicaid, the health care system for the poor, would be less in the first three years after the bill took effect, Nebraska, after six years, would have $45 million in extra expenses. ‘America’s health care system needs improvement, but this bill is not the answer,’ Heineman said in a letter to Nelson. ‘You are now the 60th vote, and as Governor of the State that we both represent, I urge you to vote against this bill and against cloture.’” (Paul Hammel, “Heineman To Nelson: Vote No,” The Omaha World-Herald, 12/16/09)

Gov. Linda Lingle (R-HI) Says Congressional Dems’ Unfunded Mandate Would Force Her State To Cut Programs Or Raise Taxes. “Both versions of health care reform would impose massive unfunded mandates on state governments. … If Congress forces Hawai’i to further increase Medicaid eligibility and benefits, we could only pay the bill by slashing other government programs or by raising taxes. Neither option is acceptable, in my opinion.” (Gov. Linda Lingle (R-HI), Op-Ed, “U.S. Health Care Bills Bad For Isles,” The Honolulu Advertiser, 1/5/10)