By Ben Giles | Arizona Capitol Times
Senate President Andy Biggs stepped forward Tuesday with a budget proposal similar to the one offered by Gov. Jan Brewer in January, but it defiantly does not include her Medicaid expansion plan.
Not counting the state’s $450 million rainy day fund, the state would face a deficit of $138 million by fiscal 2016 under Biggs’ budget. That’s due largely to the $808 million that would be spent over three years to continue Medicaid funding for childless adults under Proposition 204.
The Senate Medicaid plan would kick in if the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services officially rejected Arizona’s request to continue the enrolment freeze of its childless adult population.
The current waiver allowing the freeze expires on Jan. 1, 2014, and federal officials have signaled their unwillingness to renew the waiver.
Related: House speaker proposes ballot measure on Medicaid expansion
Also: Arizona could deny resources for federal laws under bill
