More On Steve Beshear Calling Special Legislative Session; Blames David Williams.

Beshear calls special session to consider Medicaid budget, dropout bill
By Beth Musgrave

FRANKFORT — Gov. Steve Beshear is recalling state lawmakers to Frankfort on Monday for a special session to address a hole in the Medicaid budget and consider raising the dropout age to 18.

Speaking in a Capitol news conference, Beshear said letters notifying hospitals and health care providers of a possible 30 percent cut to Medicaid payments will be sent by the end of this week. The cuts would go into effect on April 1 if legislators do not have a fix for the Medicaid budget.

The Democratic governor's decision came after the Republican-led Senate convened late Wednesday morning, a move that will end the 2011 session of the General Assembly. Wednesday became the 30th work day for lawmakers and state law limits odd-year sessions to 30 days.

Republican Senate leaders and House Democratic leaders failed to reach an agreement Tuesday night on a fix for the Medicaid budget after two days of negotiations.

Beshear laid blame for the impasse on Senate President David Williams, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor.

"Senator Williams has apparently declared and decided that he has better things to do," Beshear said. "It is time to hold him accountable. It is time to remind him of the job he is elected to do."

Beshear warned that if a budget deal isn't inked soon, cuts that could shut down some rural hospitals will have to be made in the Medicaid program, which serves more than 800,000 poor and disabled Kentuckians.

If payments to health care providers are cut, the blame lies directly "at the feet of Sen. David Williams'," Beshear said.

The formal call for a special session — a document that outlines what the special session will address — has not yet been released. But Beshear, flanked by Democrats from the House and Senate, said the call would not allow the legislature to use funding from outside the Medicaid program to balance its budget.

The Republican Senate has proposed across-the-board cuts to all agencies to make up for a shortfall in Medicaid. That option would not be available if the call limits how the budget fix can be achieved.

"I'm sure that all approaches will be discussed," Beshear said when asked if he thought he was limiting possible solutions to the Medicaid budget problem. A majority of the state's 138 legislators have said they do not support Williams' plan to cut education to shore up Medicaid, Beshear said.

Beshear also said he will add to the call a proposal that would raise the dropout age from 16 to 18. When asked if he was potentially hampering a deal on the budget by including the dropout bill on the agenda, Beshear said he thought it was an important education issue that Williams and the Senate Republicans have ignored.

First Lady Jane Beshear has pushed the measure, which would gradually increase the drop out age from 16 to 18 over several years.

Beshear said the people of Kentucky should be upset that a special legislative session was needed.

"The people of this state ought to be outraged by this," Beshear said. "Outraged by the fact that I have to call a special session to get a job done that should have been done over the last two months."

Beshear said Williams and the Republican Senate should agree to work for free.

Because of past failed special law-making sessions, House and Senate leaders generally insist on having an agreement on pending legislation before going into a special legislative session, a move that minimizes the number of days the legislature is in session. But Beshear said he didn't have time to wait for an agreement to be worked out because providers need to know if their Medicaid payments are going to be cut.

"We don't have time to do anything else," Beshear said.

House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said Williams should agree to the House's version of House Bill 305, which included Beshear's original plan of moving $166.5 million of the state's Medicaid budget from next fiscal year to this fiscal year. If Senate Republicans approved House Bill 305 on Wednesday, a special legislative session would be avoided, he said.

Republican Senators have said they do not believe Beshear can generate the $166.5 million in savings in the second year of the budget. Instead of moving the money, Senate Republicans have proposed across-the-board cuts in the first and second year of the budget. Education would be spared in the first year but would have some cuts in the second year of the budget.

Stumbo said House Democrats could not agree to spending cuts when there appeared to be no reason for them, particularly cuts to the state's school systems.

"Just because it's politically correct in some circles to say these days I want to cut government, we're not going to let that happen," Stumbo said. "It's not good government. It's not fair government. It's not well-thought-out government."

Williams, who was not immediately available for comment after Beshear's press conference, has said that cutting the legislative session short and going into the special session will actually save taxpayers money. Legislators are paid during the 10-day veto session even though they are not in session.

Each day of a legislative session costs taxpayers about $68,000.

Read more: http://www.kentucky.com/2011/03/09/1663752/beshear-calls-special-session.html#ixzz1G9R7jGpH