Governor looks back

As lawmakers have ended their work in Lansing for the year, Governor Rick Snyder admits he didn’t get everything he wanted in 2013, but he still appears satisfied. He had asked that the Legislature fund repairs to Michigan’s ailing roads this year, and while that never happened, the governor says he feels they had a very positive, constructive year. He says they accomplished a lot and if you look over the past three years, he thinks this has been one of the most productive Legislature’s in history. One of the big items on the governor’s agenda that the legislature did accomplish in 2013 was the expansion of Medicaid under the federal Affordable Care Act, which will extend Medicaid to an estimated 470,000 residents. However, the bill did not get immediate effect, meaning the law cannot be implemented until 90 days after the Legislature adjourns sine die. Now that lawmakers have wrapped things up for the year… that clock has begun ticking.  (MRN)