State Budgets and Medicaid

Governors ramp up lobbying for federal Medicaid dollars, By Jake Grovum, July 1, 2010, Stateline.org: “As Congress continues to squabble over whether to provide additional Medicaid dollars to cash-strapped states, a dozen governors used the July 1 state budget deadline to make their case for the money. Their argument: Without $25 billion in additional aid, states’ fiscal health and the nation’s fragile economic recovery could be in jeopardy. Six governors came to Washington yesterday to personally press their congressional delegations for the aid; three more attended a press event by video conference, and an additional three sent support. ‘The federal government cannot have it both ways,’ California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said by video link. ‘It can’t require states to preserve certain safety net programs and then cut the funding for those programs when it is needed most…'”