Senate Delays Voting on General Fund Budget

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State senators apparently need more time to study the budget.  They pushed off a vote on the spending plan until Wednesday.

This budget would add $15 million more to Medicaid, but that’s $85 million short of what the governor says is necessary.

Governor Bentley has said he’d veto any budget that doesn’t sufficiently fund Medicaid.

Each chamber would need a majority to override the veto, and Senator Del Marsh says that would likely happen. He says, “We’ve got so much money to spend. You’ve got $700 million dollars going to Medicaid out of the General Fund now. If you look at the increases year to year, I mean we can’t sustain that. This is a way to get this thing under control. The people in the state I don’t think are in the mood to increase funding through taxes or moving money from education. And I hate to see any doctors leave the state of Alabama, but if that happens maybe that’s what it’ll take to get the attention and maybe there will be public outcry, other than that we are just not hearing it.”

Alabama News Network will keep you updated.