Governor’s health bill veto moves Minnesota backwards

05/09/2007

Senator Ann Lynch, Rochester, MN
May 8, 2007


Governor Pawlenty vetoed the Health and Human Service bill recently passed by the Legislature. The bill included many important provisions, including providing health care access for an additional 72,000 Minnesotans, exempting active duty military families from MinnesotaCare premiums for 12 months, and a three percent cost of living increase for long-term care workers.

“The Senate and House worked hard to craft a good bill that serves the citizens of Minnesota,” said Sen. Ann Lynch, DFL-Rochester, Vice Chair of the Senate Health and Human Services Budget Division and a member of the Health and Human Services Conference Committee. “The bill used real money and honest budgeting for the real purposes they were intended; we didn’t refinance or use budget gimmicks to accomplish our goal.”

Senator Lynch said she is disappointed that the Governor would veto a bill that brings health insurance coverage to over 72,000 adults and children, while providing a COLA for nursing home workers. Many of the Governor’s requests were included in the bill. Spending on these priorities alone constitutes 85 percent of the new spending. Some of the Governor’s provisions included funding for his mental health initiatives, long-term homelessness and health care reform. Senator Lynch questioned why the Governor would veto this bill that includes so many of his own projects and proposals; this short-sighted veto will set back the goal of achieving comprehensive health care in Minnesota.

“We must now start over and look at ways to decrease the spending in this bill,” Sen. Lynch said. “It is likely that the Governor will see the loss of many of his own areas of interests. In the end, it is the children, the uninsured, the mentally ill, the homeless, and our seniors who will suffer as a result of this veto.”

The bill will be sent back to the Legislature to be reconsidered. A veto over-ride is unlikely.