Walker Wants Block Grant Funding for Medicaid; Chicago Gun Laws Struck Down by 7th Circuit
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker AP Photo / Andy Manis
Connecting state and local government leaders
Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: Kansas is ‘substantively out of compliance’; Idaho cybersecurity executive order; and New Orleans cockroaches.
MEDICAID | Republican governors who passed up billions of dollars in federal money by not expanding Medicaid in their states under the Affordable Care Act are now looking to the GOP-controlled Congress for funding—but on new terms. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a Republican, outlined his views in a letter to House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy last week. "The simple message is this,” Walker wrote. “Vote to repeal and replace Obamacare immediately and send Medicaid funding to the states in the form of a block grant." [CNBC; AP via Talking Points Memo]
Meanwhile, Kansas was told by the federal government that its “KanCare” Medicaid program “is ‘substantively out of compliance’ with U.S. law,” and denied an extension of a waiver to continue the program. KanCare is a Medicaid Innovation program, which allows states flexibility on service delivery and payments in an effort to focus on patient health outcomes. Eleven other medicaid innovation states have been granted waivers to continue their Medicaid Innovation programs. Kansas “is still mulling” how to respond. [The Topeka Capital-Journal]
PUBLIC SAFETY | The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down two Chicago laws pertaining to firing ranges as violating the second amendment to the Constitution. The laws in question restricted those under 18 years of age from entering a firing range, as well as the zoning of those firing ranges. The court ruled that the zoning was too restrictive, and the ban on those under 18 lacked “empirical data or evidence to justify” the law. The ruling was also notable as the ruling’s author, Judge Diane Sykes, is on President-elect Trump’s short list for the Supreme Court. [The Washington Post]
HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES | Lawmakers in Montana are pushing to outlaw the purchase of energy drinks using money from the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program—sometimes referred to as SNAP or food stamps. “I think a healthy drink would be Muscle Milk, fruit juice or vegetable juice,” said state Rep. Vince Ricci, a Republican who supports the ban. [Billings Gazette]
INSECTS | New Orleans is No. 1 on a list ranking U.S. cities where there are signs of cockroaches in homes. The information is included in the Census Bureau’s latest American Housing Survey. [Miami Herald]
TECHNOLOGY | The National Association of State Chief Information Officers, which represents the governors’ appointees on information technology, released its federal advocacy priorities for 2017. The list includes cybersecurity, flexibility in federal regulations that promote IT modernization, and the implementation of the FirstNet nationwide public safety broadband network. Perhaps the most notable change from years past is “Information sharing and safeguards: meeting citizen expectations,” which may foreshadow concerns about how the federal government uses information state governments share with them. [NASCIO]
CYBERSECURITY | Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter signed an executive order that enacts the recommendations of the state’s Cybersecurity Task Force. The order includes the creating a “‘Director of Information Security’ to lead efforts to detect, identify and thwart hacks on the State of Idaho’s computer networks” that reports directly to the governor. In most states, that role is performed by the state Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), which generally reports to the Chief Information Officer (CIO). [The Smithville Herald, KMVT]
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