Panel Rejects Healthy Utah; Opts for Chintzy House Alternative, "Utah Cares" - Updated

"This issue is not over," SB 164 sponsor Sen. Brian Shiozawa, R-Cottonwood Heights, told reporters

There's bad news for advocates of Governor Herbert's Healthy Utah Medicaid expansion plan, as Northern Utah media outlets report that "a Utah House committee killed Healthy Utah while approving the more [chintzy] Medicaid plan dubbed Utah Cares":

• Panel rejects Healthy Utah; opts for House alternative, Utah Cares - Tribune
• Gov. Gary Herbert's Healthy Utah plan fails in House committee - Deseret News
• Healthy Utah Falls in House Committee -Utah Policy
• House Rejects Healthy Utah in Favor of Scaled Back House Plan - Utah Political capitol

Here's the list of House committee members, folks, along with the tally of their votes:

House Business and Labor Committee
3/4/2015 6:00:00 PM - 30 House Building
House Comm - Motion to Recommend Failed
SB0164S01 - Access to Health Care Amendments
Yeas - 4
Duckworth, S.
Froerer, G.
King, Brad
Webb, R. C.
Nays - 9
Anderegg, J.
Cox, J.
Dunnigan, J.
Knotwell, J.
Peterson, V.
Roberts, M.
Schultz, M.
Stanard, J.
Wilson, B.
Absent - 1
Pitcher, D.. 

A Weber County Tip of the Hat to Weber County. Leg 8 House Rep. Gage Froerer, for bucking House leadership pressure, and voting to do the right thing. A pox on Weber County Leg. 10 House Rep. Dixon Pitcher, who'd assured his constituents he'd support Healthy Utah, and then ducked out of the committee vote.

"This issue is not over," bill sponsor Sen. Brian Shiozawa, R-Cottonwood Heights, told reporters after the House Business and Labor Committee voted down by a 4-9 margin an attempt to send SB164, which has already passed the Senate, to the full House.

Time's runnin' short, O Gentle Ones. To Senator Shiozawa, we say "Godspeed." If there's any single bill that deserves a full House floor debate and vote... this is it, folks.

Update 3/5/15 10:55 a.m.:  For those citizen-activists among us here's an event which you might wanna attend:

Here are the full details, folks:

• LEAGUE MEMBERS ACTION ALERT!

Can't hurt; might help...