this is just the state republicants trying to flex during the short time they have a one seat majority. i expect the house will be split once that special is finally held to fill the vacancy. the similarly-slim dfl majority in the state senate, and the governor, both stand in the way of any bullshit the house republicants try to advance.
Minnesota just decided it wants to pay astronomically more for healthcare by removing preventative options to solve problems early on the cheap and instead flood emergency rooms.
If you’ve ever sawed off a finger or had some other catastrophic health issue (my partner had a UTI that quickly turned extremely serious) then appreciate that in Minnesota it’ll be more likely you’ll suffer life long health repercussions just because your reps want to be cruel to immigrants.
It’s not even about not being cruel. This shit (and denying unhoused people access to preventative care) is why you hate the emergency room.
It’s not just cruel, it’s fucking dumb.
I highly doubt this bill goes anywhere. Democrats have a Trifecta in MN. Slim, but still. They were able to narrowly get it out of committee, but getting it to pass on the floor, or even brought to a vote at all, is a heavy lift. Id bet it never makes it to a floor vote and the Rs can say they tried. Committee votes are a very easy and non-significant way to “vote for something” without actually doing anything. Mainly because the overwhelming majority of Americans have no idea how government works and will take it at face value.
Even if it did somehow pass, no way Gov Walz signs it into law. That sends it back for a 2/3rds vote to overcome the veto and that certainly won’t happen.
It’s tough for me because there should be benefits to being a legal citizen, so I kind of understand the desire to exclude people who aren’t citizens.
But I know the immigration system is fucked AND undocumented workers wind up paying taxes indirectly anyway through things like sales tax.
Maybe it’s one of those things that democrats use as a bargaining chip to get something else passed along with this?
It’s only a state level move, but still.
You’re forgetting that uninsured people when get really sick they will end up in the emergency room, and of course won’t have money to pay it, so you will still be footing the bill as yours will have those losses included.
Now if immigrants could get an insurance, they likely would pay part off the insurance bill (the other part would be subsidized by the state), and most importantly they would see a doctor before issue would become so bad that it would become an emergency saving the state (and effectively you) tons of money.
That’s a fair point that I hadn’t considered (I realize this article mentions it, but I had read a different article). Thanks for sharing.
You can pay for it by funding hospital emergency rooms (at multiples the price*) or you can fund it with preventative care. Your choice Minnesota.
et tu, minnesota?
I feel pretty good about it not passing
