Former State Senator Fred Quayle came out in strong support of the House-brokered health care compromise in the pages of the Virginian-Pilot.
Led by Republican leaders such as Speaker Kirk Cox and my delegate, Chris Jones of Suffolk, the chairman of the budget-writing Appropriations Committee, the House has produced a health care coverage plan that both sides can agree on.
The House plan accomplishes the goal of getting more low-income people insured — to benefit public health and our economy — in a measured way that protects Virginia financially and requires new beneficiaries to invest in their own health and personal betterment.
The House compromise requires both sides to be flexible. It isn’t a slam dunk for either side. It is a typical example of governing from the middle, which is what most Virginians want from their elected officials.
Read the rest here.
As it stands today, House and Senate budget conferees get to hammer out the final deal, with the Virginia Senate dug in against the compromise (and some Senate Republicans doing so because the compromise does’t go far enough in expanding Medicaid) with the Governor’s Office and House Republican leadership standing by the deal.
The General Assembly session is slated to end on 10 March.
