Earlier this morning, Representative Jim Ward proposed his "DD Carve Out" legislation as an amendment to the KanCare oversight bill (HB 2789) on the floor of the House. An initial attempt to block discussion was made by Representative Crum who raised a point of order and asked the Chair of House Rules to rule if Rep. Ward's ammendemnt was germane (aka relevant) to the bill. The amendment was ruled as germane and the Speaker and House Leadership did not further challenge the amendment based on these procedural grounds.
Debate regarding the 'Ward Amendment' ensued leading with comments in support of carving out long-term DD care from Representative Pat Colloton. Representatives Worley, Swanson, Trimmer, Rubin, Otto and Keigerl all spoke in support of the amendment.
Representative Rhoades, Crum and Landwehr opposed the amendment. Representative Crum eventually moved to send the whole bill (KanCare Oversight + DD Carve Out amendment) back to committee. At this motion Representative Ward criticized the handling of his original bill to carve out long-term DD care by the chair of the House Health & Human Services Committee, Brenda Landwehr and emphatically instisted that today was the time to vote on the issue.
Alas, the motion to re-refer the bill back to committee was voted upon by the House and passed.
BUT! Do not feel defeated. While the amendment did not get adopted we saw a great show of support for your position to carve out long-term care services for persons with DD. This morning's activity on this issue was a pleasant surprise and thanks are owed to Rep. Jim Ward for forcing this issue to the table for discussion.
Please continue your advocacy with your legislators, be sure to thank those who showed support for you today, and stay tuned - more action and more ways to flex your advocacy muscles are on the horizon for April!
No comments:
Post a Comment