Ky. Medicaid Plan ‘Creates a Lot of Barriers,’ Critics Say; Chicago’s ‘Towing Bill of Rights’
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin Garry Jones / AP File Photo
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Also in our State and Local Daily Digest: A victory for Waukesha, Wis.; a new lobbying proposal in Portland, Oregon; and don’t call these county workers ‘slobs’
FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY
MEDICAID | Depending on how much Kentucky Medicaid participants earn, they would pay $1 to $15 monthly premiums under a plan to overhaul the program Gov. Matt Bevin revealed Wednesday. Other changes would include limits on services, and the elimination of dental and vision care, unless people earn it through activities like volunteer work or taking a financial literacy course. Bevin says the changes, which require federal approval, will save taxpayers $2.2 billion over five years. Critics quickly knocked the plan. "It creates a lot of barriers," said one longtime Kentucky health advocate. A Republican, Bevin campaigned on promises of curtailing a Medicaid expansion ushered in by his predecessor, Democrat Steve Beshear. A federal-state program, Medicaid is designed to help lower income individuals get access to healthcare. About 1.3 million Kentuckians are now covered through it. [Courier-Journal]
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
TOWING | The Windy City is poised to approve a “Towing Bill of Rights,” which would require towing companies to film their tow jobs and make those videos available to city officials and the unfortunate souls whose vehicles were towed. The ordinance was proposed by Ald. Ameya Pawar and Ald. Ariel Reboyras is coming before a full council meeting today. Speaking of the need for a “Bill of Rights.” Pawar said, “we all know about the tow companies that take advantage of the people that they tow. If you get towed, I don't think it's too much to ask that you're not beaten up, threatened, have items from your car stolen, have your car damaged, etc., etc." The measure would require companies to have video cameras on all trucks that document front views, rear views and audio. [Chicago Tribune]
PORTLAND, OREGON
LOBBYING | City officials and employees here would face tighter restrictions on their lobbying activities under an ordinance Portland city Auditor Mary Hull Caballero and city Commissioner Nick Fish plan to introduce Wednesday. The ordinance calls for barring elected officials from lobbying the city, and bureau directors from lobbying their former bureaus, for two years after they leave their posts. Other city employees would face a one-year lobbying ban. Hull Caballero also wants fines for violations to increase from $500 to $3,000. The proposal is seen as a compromise. The auditor floated a tougher version in April. [Oregon Public Broadcasting]
WAUKESHA, WISCONSIN
WATER | A historic exception to a compact governing water use in the Great Lakes Basin won approval Tuesday, clearing the way for Waukesha to draw water from Lake Michigan. The city is now on track to become the first place located entirely outside of the basin to gain access to water from the lakes, under what’s known as the Great Lakes Compact. Delegates from the eight states covered by the compact voted unanimously in favor of the plan. Waukesha has about 72,000 residents and is located roughly 20 miles west of Milwaukee. The city’s current primary water source is seen as troubled and unsustainable. It relies on wells pumping radium-contaminated water from an aquifer depleted by heavy use. [Journal Sentinel]
BUFFALO, NEW YORK
COUNTY WORKERS | In Erie County, which includes Buffalo and many of its surrounding suburbs, there have been complaints that some county workers were dressing a bit too casually. So the Erie County government implemented a new dress code as part of negotiations with the Civil Service Employees Association union. The Buffalo News described the new rules as an “anti-slob policy,” which didn’t sit well with the union. In a letter to the editor, the president of the CSEA local said that the employees they represent aren’t slobs. “The members of CSEA Local 815 Erie Unit certainly do not fit that definition and for The News to portray them as that is offensive. . . . It certainly did not warrant front-page news.” [The Buffalo News]
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
BODY CAMERAS | The Los Angeles city council is expected to vote Wednesday on a measure that would equip the city’s police department with body cameras at a cost of $57.6 million. The move—which has been championed by Mayor Eric Garcetti—would make LAPD the largest police agency in the nation to use the technology at this scale. Critics of the program, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, have said the department’s policies for releasing the footage would undermine police oversight—LAPD has said it will not release footage from police body cameras without a court order. An attorney for the ACLU told lawmakers Tuesday that “the LAPD’s program, while perhaps the biggest … is not even close to being the best.” [Los Angeles Times]
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