From WisPolitics.com/WisBusiness.com …
— Assembly Speaker Robin Vos says he’s happy Wisconsin hasn’t been “borrowing money” from the federal government for health care.
Wisconsin is one of 10 states that did not take the federal Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. Speaking yesterday during a WisPolitics luncheon in Madison, the Rochester Republican said “thank goodness” Wisconsin never expanded Medicaid.
“Wisconsin made the decision knowing that at some point the federal government is going to have to balance the budget … however you feel on the topic, is there any American that thinks we can borrow our way into prosperity?” he said.
He added officials could target fraud in the Medicaid program to help balance the federal budget, arguing the move “would hurt no one.”
Also during the event, Vos again criticized legislation seeking to expand to 12 months Medicaid coverage for postpartum women.
The state now covers 60 days, and a Senate Health Committee last week unanimously signed off on the bill, which cleared that chamber 32-1 last session.
In his budget address, Dem Gov. Tony Evers declared, “One legislator should not be able to single-handedly obstruct a bill that’s supported by a super majority.” Vos yesterday said the bill wasn’t needed when it’s helping a category of people that already have Medicaid coverage.
See more from the luncheon at WisPolitics.
— GOP lawmakers have reintroduced legislation to bar minors from receiving gender-affirming care, making it the third bill aimed at transgender Wisconsinites this week.
It comes after Rep. Barbara Dittrich, R-Oconomowoc, re-introduced legislation this week to require transgender women and girls to play the sport that matches their sex assigned at birth at K-12 schools, tech colleges and universities.
The “Help Not Harm Act” introduced by Rep. Scott Allen, R-Waukesha, and Sen. Cory Tomczyk, R-Mosinee, would prohibit “engaging in, causing the engagement in, or making referrals for, certain medical intervention practices upon” anyone under 18 to align with a sex other than their sex assigned at birth, with limited exceptions. Those who violate the prohibition would risk having their medical license or certificate revoked.
Gov. Tony Evers vetoed the bill last session, labeling it discriminatory. He vowed to veto any bill that makes Wisconsin a less safe, inclusive and welcoming place for LGBTQ people and kids.
Allen and Tomczyk in a co-sponsorship memo argued the measure would protect children and said they “should not be the subjects of experimental treatments or operations that could leave them sterile for the rest of their life.”
And Allen in a statement said: “Children who struggle with gender identity deserve help, not harm.”
“There are too many studies that show the harm of these procedures, and there are too many stories of young people regretting their transition later. We need to help minors by giving them the inherent blessing of time,” he said.
Fair Wisconsin Executive Director Abigail Swetz in a statement opposing the bill emphasized the importance of health care for transgender youth.
“It is gender-affirming, and it is life-affirming for the youth, as well as for the families who love and support these kids and their access to this health care,” Swetz said. “Those of us who are lucky enough to have trans youth in our lives know this firsthand; I have witnessed the life-affirming impacts of this care, and I will never forget the joy I saw on those kids’ faces when they told me about something as simple as a doctor’s appointment.”
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