A chairman of a Senate committee has been relieved of his chairmanship over language he placed into HB 818 , the healthcare portability bill that has cleared the Legislature and awaits Governor Matt Blunt’s signature.

Senator John Loudon (R-Chesterfield), sponsor of legislation expanding the practice of midwifery, couldn’t get his bill voted on in the Senate because of filibustering by two Senators. So, he attached the midwifery language to the portability bill he sponsored in the Senate. Senate Leader Michael Gibbons (R-Kirkwood), a fellow Republican, removed Loudon from his post as Chairman of the Senate Small Business Committee, because of the way in which the final version of the portability bill came together without the knowledge of a number of fellow Senators who had agreed to stop filibustering the portability legislation.

For his part, Senator Loudon insists he did nothing wrong, maintaining he attached a health related provision to a health bill, adding Senators who oppose midwifery should have paid attention to what was in the bill they voted on.

Loudon adds he was not deceptive in any way, saying he put forward a perfectly germaine amendment to the underlying bill – an amendment that should not have surprised anyone who knows how he feels about expanding the rights of midwives.

Download/Listen: Steve Walsh report (:60 MP3)