ICYMI: Governor Kelly Urges Kansans to Contact Their Legislators to Demand a Debate and Vote on Medicaid Expansion on the Floor

Apr 22, 2024

ICYMI: Governor Kelly Urges Kansans to Contact Their Legislators to Demand a Debate and Vote on Medicaid Expansion on the Floor


KEY QUOTE: “Gov. Laura Kelly has renewed her Medicaid expansion campaign, attempting to build public pressure ahead of a vote in one chamber of the Kansas Legislature. ‘I urge Kansans in every corner of the state to write, call, or meet with their legislators,’ [Governor] Kelly said in a statement. ‘Tell them Medicaid expansion must be debated and passed now. Let them know how critical this is for your family and your communities.’”

Medicaid expansion will get a vote in the Kansas Senate but not the House. Here’s why.
Jason Alatidd, Topeka Capital-Journal
April 19, 2024

  • The Senate will vote April 26 on whether to pull Senate Bill 355 out of the chamber’s public health committee, setting up a full debate and vote on the bill.
  • “House Republican leadership’s tactics clearly indicate they know what I know: There are more than enough votes to pass Medicaid expansion,” [Governor Kelly’s Chief of Staff Will] Lawrence said in a statement. “When presented with the facts, Kansans across the political spectrum, including the majority of Republican primary voters, agree that we must expand Medicaid.”
  • “Speaker Hawkins and Majority Leader Croft keep sending our tax dollars to California and New York instead of investing in working Kansans who need access to affordable health care. It is time to move beyond politics and do the right thing,” [said Lawrence.]
  • The governor said her bill “would increase access to health care for 150,000 Kansans while injecting $1.2 billion in annual federal funding into Kansas’ economy and creating 23,000 new jobs.”
  • [Governor] Kelly said it comes down to “whether or not enough legislators — who I truly do believe want to take a vote on Medicaid expansion, and most of them want to vote to expand Medicaid — it’s just whether or not they’re willing to sort of coalesce and put the pressure on to deliver the votes to make that debate vote happen.”

Kansans can contact their state legislators to ask them to support Medicaid expansion here.

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