OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Patty Murray will speak in support of an amendment to extend Medicaid match money that many states have already factored into their budgets.
The Senate is expected to take a vote Monday afternoon on Murray’s amendment restoring the money that was eliminated from an overall spending bill.
Initially, the match was supposed to provide $480 million to Washington state. Murray’s amendment would provide a smaller amount of $16.1 billion in Medicaid money to the states, of which $320 million would go to Washington.
Gov. Chris Gregoire is weighing whether to call a special session if the money, already tied to the state’s reserves, doesn’t come through. About 30 states wrote the money into their budgets.
