TOPEKA — Supporters of expanding Medicaid in Kansas are looking to block passage of the state’s next annual budget to force an expansion plan through the Republican-controlled Legislature.
Legislators were set to reconvene Wednesday after an annual spring break.
The state Senate expected to vote quickly on expediting an expansion debate. The House approved the measure in March, but the Senate has yet to act on it.
Top Republicans want to delay action until next year.
Supporters weren’t sure they could pull an expansion bill out of the Senate committee where it’s been stuck. That has them focusing on the alternative of tying up the $18 billion-plus budget that lawmakers must pass to keep state government operating after June.
House Democratic Leader Tom Sawyer calls the budget “the best leverage we have right now.”
