State legislature adjourns

June 14, 2013

The state legislative session is adjourned, after 151 days.  It happened early Friday, after a coalition of moderate Republicans joined Democrats to approve an expansion of the state's Medicaid program, under the federal Affordable Care Act, but the bridge-making effort angered conservative Republicans like Representative John Kavanagh.

"This is what happens when under a rouse, you ram through stuff Chicago-style, and maybe you had to do it Chicago-style because it's ObamaCare. Maybe that's the only way you pass ObamaCare," Kavanagh said.

But, Gov. Jan Brewer, who watched the debate on closed-circuit TV, does not believe going around members of her own party will leave lasting political scars.

"Tomorrow they will probably say 'we're sorry,' or we will just forget it. In the heat of the moment people say a lot of things," Brewer said. "Certainly I can understand that, I try to just listen and let it go."

 The governor's legislative victory could face a public vote. Two former state Senators are planning an initiative campaign to put it on the ballot next year.