Tolbert: Hammer Takes The Bullet To End The Private Option Stalemate

Republicans owe Rep. Kim Hammer a big thank you today.  Without regard to his political future, Hammer took a bullet that ended the stalemate in the House and likely salvaged the party’s chances to hold the House and perhaps take the Governor’s office.

Let me explain why.

As we all know, the appropriation to fund the Department of Human Services – Medicaid budget has been stalled on the House floor with 73 votes needing 75 to pass.  After passing the Senate, House members opposed to the Arkansas Private Option Medicaid expansion were blocking the final passage.  However, far short of the votes to amend the bill (51) and even further from the votes needed to pass an amended bill (75), they could not pass their own appropriation only block the existing one.

The impasse was firm with neither side showing signs of blinking.  The likely trajectory of the debate was ending the fiscal session without an appropriation for DHS Medicaid as well as possible several other appropriations that Democrats were blocking such as the Secretary of State’s budget.  This would have inevitably led to a special session that could have been even more contentious, but likely would have eventually passed some sort of funding for the private option only after weeks of a steady barrage of negative stories on Republicans “shutting down the state government.”

With this landscape, Hammer took to the House floor announcing why he would switch from a “no” to a “yes” explaining that he was not willing to block the appropriation and hurt people who would be affected by the sudden end to the program.

“I will be voting against (the private option) in January if it is not a success,” explained Hammer in the floor speech saying the issue would be examined again in 2015.

In the final vote, Hammer was joined by Reps. Mary Lou Slinkard and Skip Carnine in voting for the appropriation to give 76 votes – one over the needed 75 margin.

Many who oppose the private option will soon pile on Hammer for his vote, but this is short-sighted and does not acknowledge the reality.  Those against the private option could not pass their own alternative and only have gone with a “block indefinitely” mentality.  Hammer has been against the private option all along.  He actually saw the impasse coming last session in committee and was assured at the time it would not happen.

But it happened and Hammer knew the impasse needed to be broken.  He took the bullet many other House members were unwilling to take.  Perhaps this act of unselfishness will end his race for Speaker of the House or maybe it is the type of thing that could be what the Speaker’s office needs.