Republican House Speaker Taylor Barras provides Governor John Bel Edwards with budget cutting proposals as part of the negotiations to solve a nearly billion dollar shortfall. House Republican delegation chairman Lance Harris says in an effort to reduce health care spending, so they would like to see work requirements for certain people who receive Medicaid.
Harris says they also believe some Medicaid patients should pay a copay for services and medications. The Alexandria lawmaker says GOP legislators also want to a new website to track spending and they are pushing for a lower spending cap.
Edwards has been waiting GOP legislators to present a plan on how to address the fiscal cliff that could be discussed in a special session next month. Harris says if the governor supports these budget reform measures, House Republicans can look at making tax changes in order to create the revenue to cover up the shortfall.