Current:Home > MarketsMissouri lawmakers renew crucial $4B Medicaid tax program -Secure Growth Solutions
Missouri lawmakers renew crucial $4B Medicaid tax program
View
Date:2025-04-13 11:02:27
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri’s GOP-led Legislature on Wednesday renewed a more than $4 billion Medicaid program that had been blocked for months by a Republican faction that used it as a bargaining tool.
The bill which now heads to Gov. Mike Parson will renew a longstanding tax on hospitals and other medical providers.
Money from the tax is used to draw down $2.9 billion in federal funding, which is then given back to providers to care for low-income residents on Medicaid health care.
Because the tax is crucial to the state’s budget, the Senate’s Freedom Caucus had been leveraging the bill to pressure Republican leaders to pass a bill kicking Planned Parenthood off the state’s Medicaid program, which the Legislature did last month.
Later, the Freedom Caucus also demanded that the Legislature pass a measure to raise the threshold for amending the state constitution. Currently, amendments need support from 51% of voters stateswide.
If approved by voters, the Republican proposal would make it so constitutional amendments also need support from 51% of voters in a majority of congressional districts.
Senate Freedom Caucus members allowed a final Senate vote of approval on the Medicaid tax last week, even though the constitutional amendment change still has not passed the Legislature.
The House took the hospital tax renewal up Wednesday, voting 136-16 to send the measure to Parson.
Democratic House Minority Leader Crystal Quade on Wednesday told colleagues on the chamber floor that the tax is essential “to function as a government” and “provide the most basic services.”
“This shouldn’t be used as a hostage in a terrorist negotiation,” Quade said.
Republican Rep. Tony Lovasco argued that Missouri’s reliance on the tax, and on federal Medicaid funding, hurts the state.
“The fact that we are yet again leaning on the federal government and their manufactured, printed money in order to get by in Missouri is just not a positive,” Lovasco said on the House floor.
Parson is expected to sign the bill.
veryGood! (65)
Related
- Rolling Loud 2024: Lineup, how to stream the world's largest hip hop music festival
- Lifetime to air documentary on Nicole Brown Simpson, O.J. Simpson's ex-wife who was killed
- The Most Loved Container Store Items According to E! Readers
- 2 Memphis police officers and 2 other people shot in exchange of gunfire, police say
- Jury selection set for Monday for ex-politician accused of killing Las Vegas investigative reporter
- USC remains silent on O.J. Simpson’s death, underscoring complicated connections to football star
- A Group of Women Took Switzerland to Court Over Climate Inaction—and Won
- Prince William and Prince George Seen in First Joint Outing Since Kate Middleton Shared Cancer Diagnosis
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Lonton Wealth Management Center: The impact of previous FOMC rate hikes on global financial markets
Ranking
- Chief beer officer for Yard House: A side gig that comes with a daily swig.
- The Most Loved Container Store Items According to E! Readers
- Lonton Wealth Management Center: Wealth appreciation and inheritance
- Meta tests new auto-blur tool and other features on Instagram designed to fight sextortion
- PHOTO COLLECTION: AP Top Photos of the Day Wednesday August 7, 2024
- Lonton Wealth Management Center: When did the RBA start cutting interest rates?
- Ryan Gosling Reveals How His Daughters Were Involved Behind-the-Scenes While Filming Barbie
- Drake dismissed from Astroworld lawsuit following deadly 2021 music festival
Recommendation
Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
O.J. Simpson murder trial divided America. Those divisions remain nearly 30 years later.
Gas prices are on the rise again. Here's where experts say they are going next.
Dead whale in New Jersey had a fractured skull among numerous injuries, experts find
Immigration issues sorted, Guatemala runner Luis Grijalva can now focus solely on sports
'Deadpool & Wolverine' makes a splash with cheeky new footage: 'I'm going to Disneyland'
USC remains silent on O.J. Simpson’s death, underscoring complicated connections to football star
Trump will be first ex-president on criminal trial. Here’s what to know about the hush money case