In an effort to draw attention to one of their biggest priorities, health care expansion, members of the House Democratic Caucus are using procedural rules to slow down talks.
After leaders from the House Democratic Caucus talked with Florida Governor Rick Scott during an early morning Tuesday meeting, some started whispering there could be trouble coming in the chamber. That trouble came at 2:36 Tuesday afternoon, when House Democratic Leader, Perry Thurston, made a motion that slowed the chamber's progress to a crawl. Thurston asked for the bill to be read in full.
Under the state’s constitution, it takes a vote from one-third of the members in the chamber in order for a measure to be read in full. The House has 120 members. 44 of those members are Democrats. That’s just about four more votes than the Democrats would need.
As it turns out, the House has an auto reader specifically for that purpose.
“We had it in the closet, just in case we ever had to read the bills. It may be a little fast. Do you remember the Micro Machine commercials? It may be a little faster than normal, but you should be able to hear the bill and it will be read according to the constitution," said House Speaker Will Weatherford.
It took a little more than 20 minutes for the machine to read SB 1388 in full. After that, members of the Democratic Party took their time asking detailed questions and then asked for the next bill to be read in full.
So, what’s the point? House Democratic Caucus Spokesman, Mark Hollis said it's an effort to get the House to pass a plan to expand healthcare coverage that includes using Federal dollars as an alternative to expanding Medicaid under the Federal Affordable Care Act. The Senate okayed a plan that would do that. The House plan doesn’t use federal money.
“So in order to draw attention to the issue, to express concerns about the failure thus far to pass the adequate health coverage expansion plan, Democratic Caucus members have taken some extreme procedural measures," Hollis said.
Hollis said the caucus wants to see the Senate measure pass. Meanwhile, Representative Thurston is encouraging Governor Rick Scott to consider vetoing the budget if it doesn’t include such a plan. Thurston says the governor could call lawmakers back in a special session to take the issue up again.
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