#ncga: House’s anti-Folwell bill sitting in Murphy’s Health committee
Remember how we told you about the hospital lobby drafting a bill clipping treasurer Dale Folwell’s wings and passing out a lot of cash to get the House to move on it?
The bill restricts the treasurer’s ability to manage the state health plan. (A number of years back, the health plan was moved into the realm of the state treasurer because too many legislators were making mischief with it and monkeying around with it. )
Well, heres’s the “latest” on HB 184:
So, its first stop is the House Committee on Health. Now, WHO is in charge there? According to the General Assembly web site, state Rep. Greg Murphy (R-Pitt) is the senior chairman of the Health Committee. (Murphy IS NOT listed as a sponsor of the legislation.)
Greg Murphy is one of 26 candidates currently campaigning for the Third Congressional District’s seat in the US House — made vacant by the passing of Walter Jones.
I guess it can be looked at as a good sign for Folwell allies that the bill has been sitting in Murphy’s committee since February 27 and it is now March 11.
According to the General Assembly website, the next step after Murphy’s committee is the Committee on Insurance. That committee is co-chaired by Reps. Bumgardner, Corbin, and Setzer. (Setzer IS a sponsor of the anti-Folwell legislation.)
After that stop, it moves on to House Rules, which is chaired by Rep. David Lewis (R-Harnett).
What a travesty! This is a total embarrassment for the party, unless you receive money from the hospital association.!?!
Our Treasurer is looking for Transparency. We, the GOP are for Transparency!
The real question is why does this Bill exist? Why doesn’t the Hospital Association want to be transparent?
Money. Money. Money.
Don’t forget, NC pays big bucks for Insurance. Our Treasurer is doing his job. Leave him alone and let him do it.
All eyes are on the GOP Sponsors of this Bill. We are watching and waiting for your votes. If this Bill moves forward, the GOP has cut their own throats.
I pray that the Senate trashes this garbage if it moves out of the house,
Murphy is in the hip pocket of the hospital bureaucrat groupies. Look at where his money comes from. He will probably wait out the April 30 primary before doing anything in order to duck and cover, but if he ends up in a runoff, he will have to stall even longer and that will be a problem for him with the crossover deadline/
To say this is a travesty and embarrassment is an understatement. I hope Representative Murphy and any other “Republicans” understand that if that bill gets a thumbs up in his committee and passes through the House that there are MANY voters in the 3rd District who will not forget. Many here will “Just say NO” to him and others involved in the voting booth whenever he/they are up for election/re-election.
Treasurer Folwell is looking out for all citizens in this state. That’s exactly what we hired him to do. Our “Republican” representatives duties include supporting our Treasurer and we expect them to do so or there will be repercussions.
Wouldn’t any rational person want transparency from a hospital or other medical facility? Wouldn’t any rational person wonder why their representative wasn’t looking after their “Six”?
We will need to watch Greg Murphy’s key move on this bill, which is whether he lets it come up for a vote in his committee. That is within his power, and committee chairman put the nix on bills all the time by just refusing to call them up for a committee vote. If he lets it come up for a vote, then he is supporting the bill, regardless of how he ends up voting on it. This would be much like Tillis and Burr voting for cloture on a bill and then voting against the bill itself. The cloture vote is actually the key vote, since it is the choke point where it could have most easily been stopped. When one is a committee chairman with the power to decide what does or does not come before the committee, THAT is the key choke point.
Another tactic that needs to be watched is if he calls it for a vote, whether he calls that as a voice vote or a recorded vote. The former is often used to blur transparency and protect legislators who are voting against the positions of their base.
Henceforth to Raphael and all others who are visitors and comment on this site and others:
Do not refer to Murphy as :
Murphy
Greg Murphy
Rep. Murphy
Dr. Murphy
or any other name other than what he is:
MEDICAID MURPHY
We will be watching what Medicaid Murphy does on the anti-Folwell bill. If he brings it up for a vote we will know he is on the side of the special interests, not the taxpayers, on the massive unfunded liability that our taxpayers now face on the State Health Plan.