Local legislators response to medicaid expansion dying

Lincoln County legislators Sen. Jason Barrett and Rep. Becky Currie offered reflections on the Mississippi legislature failing to expand Medicaid at a legislative breakfast held on May 16. Talks at the end of the session broke down and efforts to expand medicaid died.  Barrett said he was proud of the fact the legislature discussed a bill in depth. He added the legislature as a whole is less about “open debate,” and more about legislators getting votes before going on the floor without giving legislators enough time to read the bills. Medicaid was one of those bills “I’m not voting for a bill that long in a short amount of time. It would be irresponsible of me to,” Barrett said. “This year the house and senate had different medicaid bills. I voted against the senate bill. It was a direct copy of Georgia’s bill with a work requirement.”