The Kansas Legislature does not have sufficient votes to override Governor Sam Brownback’s veto of the state’s Medicaid expansion, reports The Kansas City Star.
Last week the Governor sent health-care advocates into a rage by vetoing a law that would have provided health care to roughly 150,000 low-income Kansans. The law would have opened the door to millions of dollars’ worth of Federal matching funds.
The bill was sent back to the Legislature, where an attempt was made to override the veto. But the House fell short of the necessary two-thirds majority—by three votes.
Republican lawmakers said the law would have further hurt the state’s already beleaguered finances. But Rep. Cindy Holscher, an Olathe Democrat, disagreed, insisting human lives are more important than money. “If we could even save one life, it would still be worth it,” she said.
