Bill detour not fatal

Heart flutters at the state capital Friday as the Medicaid Expansion bill carried by Rep. Ed Buttrey, R-Great Falls, was tabled by a Senate committee. But that turned out to be a parliamentary maneuver by the bill's Senate sponsor to assure it a more friendly committee hearing. The bill still should pass the Senate and be signed by the governor, most observers predict, as it has the support of Democrats as well as more moderate Republicans. Some Republicans opposed to Medicaid Expansion point to a failed statewide referendum last year that would have funded the program through an increase in tobacco taxes, suggesting that the current effort thwarts the will of the people. Opposition to the ballot measure was heavily financed by tobacco companies.

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