Senate Republican and Democrat leaders have met to try to negotiate a deal that would get legislation moving again on this, the final day of the session. Democrats have been blocking debate since Tuesday when Republicans forced a vote on a so-called “right to work” bill.
Majority Floor Leader Ron Richard (R-Joplin) says he’ll see if his caucus agrees with the ideas that came from his meeting with Minority Floor Leader Joseph Keaveny (D-St. Louis).
“I think we can find a path forward on [the Federal Reimbursement Acceptance bill] and maybe one other piece of business, but he’s going to go to his caucus and I’ll go to mine,” said Richard. “I think there’s probably a way to get something done.”
The FRA bill that would let Missouri collect about $3.5 billion in federal tax money that would go to Medicaid.
“He brought some alternatives to us. Some we agreed on, some we didn’t. He’s going to take them back to his caucus,” Richard added.
Richard would not comment on what the other piece of legislation would be. He said that’s in negotiations.
Senator Keaveny says he’s keeping his options open.
“We don’t have a firm commitment on either side,” said Keaveny. “We’ve got some ideas that I think might get this thing resolved for the short term. I think there are longer term issues that we need to address.”
“I would love to get something accomplished. I think we’ve got a good chance of doing it, but I can’t commit either way. With things this delicate, things can change very quickly.”
