Heidi Alexander: “the vote we are having at 10:40 a.m. has the following problems with it: No. 1, it is $10 billion for the State to pay…”

“the vote we are having at 10:40 a.m. has the following problems with it: No. 1, it is $10 billion for the State to pay for teachers. That sounds pretty good except that it ties the hands of the Governors and the legislatures so they cannot change education funding levels if their State budgets are in trouble. No. 2, there is $16 billion for States to pay for Medicaid. That sounds pretty good, too, except that it ties the hands of the States and the Governors so they cannot adjust their State Medicaid Program and continue to face a funding cliff. I heard the distinguished Senator from Washington State talk about college students. The reason California students are facing a 32- percent increase in tuition is largely caused by California's expenses for Medicaid, the State program that is funded also by the Federal Government that has so many Federal rules that it keeps going up in cost. And the money that would be going to the University of California or the University of Tennessee or the University of New Hampshire instead goes for Medicaid. Then there is not money for the university, and then what happens? The tuition goes up.”