FMAP Passes Senate; House to Vote Tuesday

August 6, 2010

On Thursday, August 5, the U.S. Senate voted 61-39 to pass a bill whose amendments will extend some measure of enhanced Medicaid (FMAP) funding to states, including an expected $506 million to Massachusetts.
 
The bill, H.R. 1586, would extend portions of FMAP funding that were set to expire in December of this year. With passage of the legislation, $15 billion will be used to extend increased funding through June of 2010, though at a lower rate than included in the ARRA stimulus package.

Republican senators Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, both of Maine, voted to pass the bill. Massachusetts’ senator John Kerry also voted in favor of the legislation. Senator Scott Brown voted against it.

The bill cleared a procedural hurdle on Wednesday when the Senate approved a motion for cloture on the bill, preventing a filibuster. After the Wednesday vote, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi announced that she would call back the House to pass the bill. With the bill’s passage through the Senate today, the House will consider the bill next Tuesday.

The extension of increased FMAP funding is welcome news in Massachusetts, where Governor Patrick was forced to make significant cuts to the human services safety net and local aid in anticipation of increased funding being rejected.

“I applaud the U.S. Senate for moving forward on this critical effort to save jobs, support education, and maintain critical services for working families and our most vulnerable citizens,” Governor Patrick said in a statement. ”I especially appreciate the leadership of Senator Kerry in ensuring that this bill comes to a vote on the merits. We are lucky here in Massachusetts to have an entire House delegation that has already shown their strong and vocal support for this initiative and I am hopeful that after final Senate approval the House will act on this vital legislation quickly.”

The Arc played a central role in efforts pushing Sen. Brown to change his vote against funding FMAP, holding a vigil with partner organizations in his Boston offices in late June. We are disappointed that Sen. Brown did not come around, but thankful that the Senate as a whole did. The quality of life of several thousand individuals and families is dependent on those funds for critical cuts (including $19 million in the Department of Developmental Services alone) to be restored. We applaud our federal lawmakers for their persistence on this critical issue.