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College Students, Teachers Could Get Caught in Medicaid Debate Crosshairs

Virginia Tech

Lawmakers in Richmond are trying to balance the books, but the numbers aren’t adding up. At least not yet.

Before he left office, former Governor Terry McAuliffe gave financially strapped college students a break, $46 million in new financial aid for in-state undergraduate students. Republican leaders in the House Appropriations Committee agreed and fully funded the program. But Senate budget leaders slashed it in half. Republican Senator Bill Stanley of Franklin County.

“That reduction in financial aid is just one piece on the chessboard that’ll get moved around, and probably that number will not be the same as you see it today.”

Senate Minority Leader Dick Saslaw says the refusal of Senate Republicans to follow the lead of House leaders in expanding Medicaid has created a sort of checkmate. They don’t have the $400 million in revenue that would come from the federal government, so they’re slashing financial aid for college students and salary increases for teachers and creating a new tax for all-terrain vehicles.

“Well, that’s what happens when you don’t expand Medicaid is you gotta go looking for money, and if we finish the conference and we don’t have that then I’m going to vote against the whole shebang.”

Only one Senate Republican has come out in favor of expanding Medicaid, and the rest of the caucus is in firm opposition. If they don’t expand health insurance for people who live in poverty or with disabilities, struggling college students might end up paying the price.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Michael Pope is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria.