The Mississippi Division of Medicaid is still sporting its $90million funding gap two days into Mississippi’s fiscal year 2009,and so far – as the special session continues on through knee-deeppolitical molasses – no funding solution has been agreed upon.

In fact, the closest thing the Legislature had to a solution -Senate Bill 2013, which proposed a $167 per day hospital assessment- is getting weaker by the day. It was never supported in aDemocratic House and has lost credit in the Senate, as 22 Senatorslast week attempted to pass tobacco tax legislation – a bigturnaround from the original 41-7 vote that passed the bill in thatchamber weeks ago.

Of even more interest to local House members is the fact that twodays after July 1, when Gov. Haley Barbour had threatened toannounce the cutting of millions of dollars from Medicaid servicesto make up for the budget hole, the governor has been silent.

Not only has the governor not followed through on his threats, buthis right-hand man throughout the session, Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, isnow considering a hybrid Medicaid funding solution that may includea decreased hospital assessment in conjunction with increasedtobacco taxes. The details of Bryant’s negotiations with Housemembers are being kept secret, but may include income tax relief inaddition to tobacco taxes.

“I guess the governor has blinked,” said District 91 Rep. BobEvans, D-Monticello. “Nothing drastic has happened. Thisbrinksmanship might still be going on, but perhaps there is somebeneficial movement toward a compromise.”

Evans said the House has spent the last two days in sessionwaiting, as the Senate mulls its options over an assessment/tobaccotax compromise and considers House Bill 17, legislation passed tothe Senate last week that would prohibit the governor from makingany Medicaid cuts until early 2009.

Basically, Evans said, it’s all on the Senate.

“Sitting here in the House today, I really enjoyed the politicalcartoons in the Clarion-Ledger, and I read The DAILY LEADER -basically, I’ve been sitting around wondering if a compromise isimminent, and where is it?” he said.

Evans is not the only representative playing the waiting game.

“Meetings – that’s about all it has been,” said District 53 Rep.Bobby Moak, D-Bogue Chitto. “The Senate is trying to offersomething, but as yet they’ve been unable to deliver onanything.”

Moak said he was curious as to why Bryant and the Senate are onlynow attempting to reach a compromise with the House after weeks ofhead-butting between the two chambers.

“The fact that HB 17 was referred to committee in the Senate is anillogical step based on the lieutenant governor’s past rulings,”Moak said. “He has ruled nothing but the bed tax until now, but hasput this bill in committee and is now saying, ‘OK, I can deliver acompromise,’ even though he won’t let the Senate introduce acigarette bill. It’s kinda hard to figure out, isn’t it?”

Despite the confusion coming out of the Legislature, Moak said hewas against a recent round of talk in the House about adjourning”sine die” and ending the session again.

“We need to give the Senate the opportunity to do what they saidthey were gonna do,” he said. “Let them see if they can deliver onwhat they promised. If they can’t, we’ll back up and we’ll dosomething else.”

This newest round of indecision and the slow demise of SB 2013 istroubling for some House members. District 92 Rep. Becky Currie,R-Brookhaven, said the inactivity on Medicaid funding is costingthe people in Mississippi.

“My constituents are being laid off from hospitals, and hours arebeing cut back,” she said.

Currie, who twice supported a cigarette tax during the regularsession, said SB 2013 is the best funding plan that has been drawnup during the session. Hospital administrators from District 92have called for its implementation.

But, she said, it isn’t looking good.

“I think SB 2013 is about dead,” she said. “If the governor goesahead with Medicaid cuts, the Mississippi Hospital Association andall the parties will start backing out. If the hospital associationbacks out of SB 2013, then we don’t even have a bill.”

Currie is particularly frustrated about the political nature of thebattle over Medicaid funding.

“This is not about Mississippians; not about people or Medicaid -it’s now about politics,” she said. “We’ve heard from all theDemocrats up here that this debate is gonna cause the Republicansto lose in November. It’s not about what’s best for everybody.”

District 39 Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, D-Brookhaven, could not bereached for comment.