Minnesota Republican Senator David Hann addressed reporters today, following Sens. Amy Koch and Geoff Michel’s rebuttal after Governor Mark Dayton’s news conference. Sen. Hann had just returned from Washington, D.C., where he met with members of the state’s delegation to seek a waiver for Medicaid so that Minnesota would no longer have to fund it.
Sen. Linda Berglin (DFL-Minneapolis) issued the following statement today, in response to Hann’s initiative:
“Senator Hann recently arrived back in Minnesota after spending several days in Washington, D.C., meeting with members of Minnesota’s congressional delegation about his plan to eliminate Medicaid benefits for thousands of Minnesotans. It’s telling that Senator Hann never met with the President or anyone from his administration. The bottom line is that Senator Hann needs President Obama’s support to accomplish his goal, and seemingly even he understands he will never get it.
In the meantime, he wasted several days of critical legislative time that could have been spent working out some of the contentious issues in the Health and Human Services budget. Senator Hann should be focused on putting together a balanced budget rather than pursuing a Tea Party pipe dream.
Republicans want to take away Minnesotans’ Medicaid benefits and replace them with an unaffordable voucher. This is a devastating plan for families and the wrong direction for Minnesota.”
