http://www.yankton.net/articles/2013/02/11/community/doc511845bfa8b43756263201.txt

Legislators Discuss Education, Medicaid Issues

Rep. Mike Stevens

By Andrew Atwal
andrew.atwal@yankton.net

When District 18 legislators met at a Saturday morning cracker barrel at the Avera Professional Pavilion, education funding and Medicaid were two of the more vigorously discussed topics.

Legislators agreed that there are a lot of issues with Medicaid that must be examined, but there were disagreements on when the state should approach the issue.

“There are a lot of issues that are going on with the Medicaid program that we need to address,” said Rep. Bernie Hunhoff. “However, I spoke with someone who has worked in Medicaid for years who said South Dakota has the best functioning Medicaid program in the nation and have had that for many years here.”

He added that he supports a medical bill, which a similar form was passed in Nebraska, that would give pre-natal care to babies regardless of the mother’s citizenship status.

Sen. Jean Hunhoff said she thinks there must be more funding available for the Medicaid program.

“The reality here is that we all must go through the process and see what kind of money is left over at the end of the session,” she said. “If there is any money left over, the money added to various programs is only a one-time allotment. However, we do need to have more money in Medicaid but there is really no new money out there.”

Rep. Mike Stevens said if the Medicaid program was so simple, other states would have signed up for it in a snap.

“Once you get into the program, it is highly unlikely you’ll be able to get out of it,” he said. “I don’t think it’s a stupid idea to wait and get more information about the program.”

However, Rep. Hunhoff thinks the program would help South Dakota immensely and doesn’t believe the state should wait any longer before signing up for Medicaid expansion.

“We have always been trying to provide care for working poor adults,” he said. “Some of the provisions in the Affordable Care Act provide coverage for those adults. Having the program here would be a big thing for healthcare and the work force in the state.”

Rep. Hunhoff added that Medicaid expansion in South Dakota is inevitable, but it is more of a matter of how fast it happens. He said the program is critical to both large and small hospitals across the state and region.

On the other hand, Sen. Hunhoff said she is concerned with the federal allotment of money for states to fully enact the Medicaid program.

“Are the feds going to be able to provide all the funding they are promising?” she asked. “It’s the real elephant in the room in this situation. I’m for expansion, but I don’t want the burden to eventually be put on the taxpayers of South Dakota.”

Another hot-button issue discussed was education funding.

Stevens believes that, if there is a one-time funding allotment this year, the money should go back to local school boards to make the decision on how to use the funds.

“There have been a lot of different ideas about education funding floating out there,” he said. “I think it is up to local school boards to decide how to best educate their children — local control is the best way to do that.”

Rep. Hunhoff agreed, and said there are a lot of funding discussions going on in the Legislature each day.

“The big debate has been whether we start to micro-manage education again versus having more local control over it,” he said. “It seems like we’re moving back towards categorical aid for education. There is only so much money to go around, and we’ve fallen way behind in education funding in the state.”

Sen. Hunhoff said it is always the same discussion each year and legislators must work together to find a comprehensive plan for education and education funding.

Also discussed Saturday was the Human Services Center (HSC) and its proposed demolition of some of its old, unused buildings.

“It’s been about 30 years since the (old) campus of the HSC closed,” Rep. Hunhoff said. “Gov. Daugaard assured us that he wants to see the historic buildings saved, if possible. Since we’re only a few years away from demolition, this is really the last shot to find developers for the historic buildings.”

Sen. Hunhoff agreed, saying if the community wants to redevelop the buildings, people must step up now because the Legislature can’t continue to postpone the demolition plans.

Stevens said Daugaard is serious about getting input from others on the buildings and what can be done to potentially save them.

Legislators also discussed the recent passing of a prison reform bill, each saying how important the bill is for the prison system and its future.

The next cracker barrel will be held in Yankton on March 2.

You can follow Andrew Atwal on Twitter at twitter.com/andrewatwal