LANSING, MI (MPRN)-- It’s now up to the state House to decide whether to send a bill to expand Medicaid in Michigan to Governor Rick Snyder’s desk. That’s after the state Senate narrowly approved the bill Tuesday evening.
But as Michigan Public Radio’s Jake Neher reports, the Senate may have also delayed when the expansion could actually take effect.
Getting the bill through the state Senate wasn’t easy. In fact, it failed the first time the chamber took it up for a vote. But senators agreed to reconsider the vote. And after hours of deliberation, it passed.
Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville says this was a particularly tough vote for many of his GOP colleagues.
“Up until last night, some people were still mulling over which way they wanted to go, because it’s a difficult decision for everyone involved,” he says.
But the Senate did not vote to give the bill immediate effect. It’s a procedural vote that determines when a law is actually enacted. In this case, no immediate effect could mean no Medicaid expansion in Michigan until April.
Governor Rick Snyder says the state would lose out on millions of federal dollars if that’s the case.
For the Michigan Public Radio Network, I’m Jake Neher at the state Capitol.