James Call
Now we have a Session — a battle of wills and philosophies in the building of a state budget. The Senate wants to talk. In the House, the talk is about war. Both chambers have passed a state budget for next year. If you look at the bottom lines the difference is about $4.2 billion.
More than numbers separate the two. The chambers may be located in the same Capitol and are controlled by the same party but the lawmakers who work in them have very different views on what makes good policy.
The Senate plan comes in at $80.4 billion and expands Medicaid to make up for money lost when a federal program (LIP) that reimburses safety-net hospitals ends.
Medicaid expansion are fighting words in the House.
House Appropriations chair Richard Corcoran noted in his floor speech that more than 30 percent of the state budget is a drawdown of federal dollars.
“We have to ask ourselves at what point do we as a state hit a tipping point,” Corcoran said. “We are sacrificing our independence and sovereignty for the dysfunction that exists in Washington, D.C. They own our budget. They own our policies and that is the part that should concern you about LIP.”
Corcoran views Medicaid as a broken system and expansion as a false promise. But the Senate sees it as a solution to a $2 billion budget problem.
“We’re not dancing. And if you want to blow up the process because somehow you think you have that right that don’t exist, have at it,” Corcoran said.
“Come to war on health care with us,” said Corcoran. “And I’ll tell you who the enemy is. It’s the status quo and the status quo is all the people who profit from the system.”
It may have been a good thing that lawmakers left town for the Easter weekend after Corcoran’s speech Thursday.
“I would rather have a special session than to walk out of here and not expand Medicaid and to loose LIP funding,” Sen. Thad Altman said. “People will suffer. Hospitals will close. It would be irresponsible for us to accept that and I’m willing to stay all summer if it takes to do the right thing.”
The Senate has advanced two plans, one by Sen. Renee Garcia and a second by Sen. Aaron Bean to keep money flowing to the hospitals.
“It’s crickets,” said Sen. Tom Lee, the Senate Appropriations Chairman about the House response.
“We’re not hearing anything from anyone else but they don’t want to dance. That they feel like they are at war with ideas that are being advanced. No, just can’t be the solution. I know they have ideas, bring them to the table and let’s see if we can’t figure this out.”
Lawmakers have until the end of April to work things out if they want to end the session on time.
Altman has served 13 years in the Legislature and was in the House in 2003 when lawmakers convened five special sessions. They included the emotionally charged case of Terry Schiavo when lawmakers approved a measure enabling then-Gov. Jeb Bush to order a feeding tube re-inserted and another divisive session dealing with medical malpractice.
“Those issues were nothing like the issues we are facing today,” Altman said. “The potential health care crisis we’re facing is a very, very serious public policy issue. It’s worth standing our ground. It’s worth taking a stand to prevent that meltdown from happening.”
The House indicates the Senate may be standing for a long time.
“I have no intentions of changing our position where we are on Medicaid expansion,” Speaker Steve Crisafulli said. “We’ve been set there since Day One. That is no surprise to the Senate.”
History indicates there is no telling what may happen when lawmakers convened a special session. The legislature met in special sessions three times during the Charlie Crist administration. After getting what he wanted in sessions dealing with property insurance and property taxes Crist called lawmakers to Tallahassee to deal with offshore oil drilling. They came, convened, adjourned and went home.
Lawmakers held three special sessions in 1992. One for congressional redistricting — voters and the courts are still dealing with the consequences of that session — and a second time when then-Gov. Lawton Chiles vetoed the $30 billion state budget. When lawmakers came back to town the “Old He-coon” then rammed a $2.7 billion school construction package through the Legislature. Lawmakers returned to Tallahassee again that November for an eight-day session on worker’s comp, homeowners’ insurance, and guns.
Now that the chambers have in effect submitted their opening bids in the 2015 budget debate, it becomes a game of will. Senators indicate they are willing to spend a long, hot summer in steamy Tallahassee. Corcoran is willing to let them “have at it.”
“It does not run out until October,” Corcoran said about LIP funding. “If we’re going to deal with an issue as big as LIP where we should deal with it is in the future.”
Lee said he thinks within 10 days there will be a clearer picture of where this is all going:
“It will get very difficult if we get into the middle of week seven and we don’t have some really, really strong steering currents as to where the landing zone is.”
