Blasdel opposes Medicaid proposal

Halfway through the legislative session, House Speaker Mark Blasdel, R–Somers, is pleased with the progress that’s been made.

“We’ve gotten a lot of good bills over to the Senate,” he said. “We’re pretty happy with where we’re at.”

The Legislature reached the halfway point on Feb. 28.

“One of the biggest improvements is tone,” said Blasdel, who’s serving in his fourth legislative session. He noted that it helps that former Gov. Brian Schweitzer is no longer on the scene.

One of the more talked about pieces of legislation this year has to do with whether or not Montana will buy into the Medicaid expansion that is part of the Affordable Care Act. Rep. Pat Noonan, D-Ramsey, proposed such a bill (HB 458), but Blasdel opposes it.

“If we expand, then the state has to pay a component” beginning in 2017, Blasdel said. This would involve the state getting into an agreement with a partner — the federal government — that is $16 trillion in debt, he said.

Blasdel said that if such legislation gets through the Senate, it will not get through the House.

“You’re putting the taxpayers at risk for a ton of money,” he said, estimating it would cost the state between $100-200 million over future years. “The amounts keep changing because they don’t know how many people would be covered,” he said.

Blasdel believes that the people who would be covered under any Medicaid expansion could also get subsidized health insurance through a new federal health care exchange that is being created as part of the Affordable Care Act. (The state of Montana decided in the 2011 legislative session to not give the state auditor the authority to create a state-run exchange, Blasdel said.)

Blasdel believes that any able bodied person who makes $11,190 or more per year — up to 200 percent of the federal poverty level — will be eligible to go to the federal health insurance exchange and get a 100 percent federally subsidized tax credit that can be used to purchase insurance. Those who make between 200 and 400 percent of the poverty level would be eligible for a less-than-100 percent subsidy, Blasdel said.

“It will be all federal money and the state is not on the hook long-term,” he said.

The federal government would pay for 100 percent of the Medicaid expansion from 2014-2016, which would decline gradually to 90 percent by 2020.

Blasdel said that Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker “cut Medicaid and is putting all those people on the exchange,” and noted that South Carolina is headed in that direction too.

Others, including former Rep. Mike Jopek, D–Whitefish, have said that a doughnut hole would be created for those who make between 100 and 138 percent of the federal poverty level if Montana turns down the Medicaid expansion. These people wouldn’t be able to get the federal subsidy, Jopek stated on his website, mikejopek.org.

In other Medicaid news, Blasdel said that Rep. Scott Reichner, R–Bigfork, is working on a Medicaid reform bill that hasn’t been introduced yet.

Blasdel highlighted a number of bills that have already passed the House.

These include: an update to Rep. Steve Lavin’s bill on DUI enforcement, known as the 24/7 Sobriety Program (HB 233); a bill sponsored by Rep. Doc Moore, R-Missoula, dealing with the marijuana-related THC level of drivers (HB 168); and a bill sponsored by Rep. Christy Clark, R–Choteau, (HB 355) that would move the “look-back” time period for DUIs from five to 20 years.

Senate Bill 81 cleared the upper chamber and will be considered by the House soon, Blasdel said. It would create a tax deduction for donations to public and private schools.

A bill that would create charter schools in Montana passed the House on a second read, but failed on third (final) read after six representatives changed their votes. “I think a lot of teachers’ unions got to them,” Blasdel said, noting he supported the bill.

In regard to income tax reform, a bill (SB 282) by Sen. Bruce Tutvedt, R—Kalispell, would simplify the number of tax credits and exemptions by reducing the number from 37 to “3 or 4,” Blasdel said. It would keep some popular credits, including the elderly homeowner and charitable endowment credits. The bill would enable state income tax filers to file and pay their taxes on a postcard-sized form, he said. In addition, the tax on the highest income bracket would be reduced from 6.9 to 5.9 percent. For those making less than $15,000, the rate would drop to 4 percent.

There are a couple of bills to reduce the business equipment tax. One (HB 472) would raise the threshold for equipment subject to the lower 1.5 percent portion of the tax from $20,000 to $250,000. Another bill (SB 96) would raise the threshold for equipment subject to the higher 3 percent portion of the tax from $3 million to $10 million. Rep. Jerry Bennett, R—Libby, and Tutvedt, sponsor those bills respectively. They are separate bills, but Blasdel hopes they are approved and sent to Gov. Steve Bullock as a package.

There’s also a bill (SB 4) that is meant to provide property tax relief. It would move the state from a six-year reappraisal process and require an appraisal in 2015, with an annual appraisal every year after that. This would conceivably prevent huge swings in appraisals that can happen every six years.

For his part, Blasdel hasn’t sponsored much legislation. His only bill thus far was a joint resolution that states that Montana supports trade with Taiwan, which he said “is one of our top trade partners for wheat, barley and grain.”

Blasdel explained that Taiwan has a new visa program that they expect will increase travel abroad. The bill (HJR 12) “is a big deal to them,” he said, noting that former Gov. Schweitzer’s firing of Montana’s trade delegate to Taiwan “put us in a bad position with them.” He noted that Taiwan’s trade delegation plans to visit Montana next month.

Blasdel said he hasn’t introduced much legislation because there’s so much involved in the administrative part of being House Speaker.

“It’s easier to get other legislators to work on legislation, and I just try to usher it through the process,” he said. “When the leadership carries legislation, it becomes more political.”

Blasdel has only been home one week since the Legislature went into session in January. He doesn’t expect to come home again until its conclusion.