Become part of the movement for unbiased, accessible election information. Donate today.

State Legislative Tracker: North Carolina Gov. McCrory signs Medicaid privatization bill

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search

BP-Initials-UPDATED.png This article may not adhere to Ballotpedia’s current neutrality policies.

SLP badge.png

Donate.png

September 28, 2015

Edited by Jackie Beran

This week’s tracker includes a look at the disqualification of a former state senator from a state House race in Louisiana and a new law in North Carolina that privatized Medicaid.

Weekly highlight

Former Louisiana Sen. Derrick Shepherd

LOUISIANA: The candidacy of former legislator Derrick Shepherd (D) for House District 87 was again halted after an appeals court upheld his disqualification last Thursday, just two days after another court struck down the legislatively referred constitutional amendment cited in his removal. Shepherd, who pleaded guilty to felony charges of money laundering in 2008, served over two years in prison; felons are constitutionally barred from office unless they have been pardoned or have been out of prison for 15 years.[1][2] The 5th Circuit Court of Appeal ruled that district judge Steve Enright was correct in disqualifying Shepherd on these grounds.[1][3] As the Tracker reported last week, Enright granted Shepherd a stay, allowing him to stay on the ballot temporarily. The appeals court did not take up the validity of the amendment; last Tuesday, however, district judge and former state Senator Wilson Fields struck it down, agreeing with Shepherd's legal team that it had not been properly passed. When originally passed by the legislature in 1997, the amendment included language that allowed felons sentenced to only probation to run for office following the end of their sentences. When presented to voters the following year, that language was not included. Shepherd's attorneys argued that legislative procedure was not followed, making the amendment null and void.[4] In its decision, the appellate court said, "His certification as to [his statement of candidacy's] truth cannot hinge upon his subjective belief that the provision is unconstitutional." The matter of the amendment's validity will now go before the Louisiana Supreme Court.[3] Shepherd has claimed that he is reformed and made second chances a theme of his campaign.[5][6] With Shepherd out of the race, Rodney Lyons Sr. (D) is the lone challenger to incumbent Ebony Woodruff (D).

General Assembly of North Carolina

NORTH CAROLINA: Last week, Gov. Pat McCrory (R) signed into law a bill that privatized Medicaid. House Bill 372 passed the state Senate by a vote of 33 to 15, and the state House voted 65 to 40 to pass the bill.[7] The law will phase out the current fee-for-service system used by North Carolina Medicaid.[8] With the new Medicaid system, three insurance companies and 10 provider networks will be given contracts to enroll patients in regional managed care networks.[9] Rather than pay for each hospital visit, Medicaid would give the companies a fixed amount per month for each patient.[9] The new law will impact the 1.8 million North Carolinians who receive healthcare from the state's Medicaid system.[10] Many lawmakers have supported Medicaid privatization because of the costs of the program. North Carolina spends almost a fifth of its budget, or $3.7 billion, on Medicaid annually.[11] Rep. Bert Jones (R) said on Medicaid privatization that "For years and years and years, Medicaid has been considered the budget Pac-Man that eats up all the dollars that people in this chamber would like to see spent on many other things."[11] Rep. Joe Sam Queen (D) criticized the bill because it failed to include Medicaid expansion. Queen argued, "It’s not reform. It’s regression. There will not be better satisfaction. There will not be lower costs. There will not be better health care in rural areas. There will not be better outcomes. To call this reform is to misunderstand the intent."[11] The Medicaid system is not expected to change until 2018 or 2019. It must first gain federal approval before the state can make any changes.[10]

Sessions

Current sessions capture for the week of September 28, 2015
See also: Dates of 2015 state legislative sessions
Click here to see a chart of each state's 2015 session information.

Regular sessions

Currently five out of 50 state legislatures are meeting in regular session. Three states are in recess and 42 states have adjourned their 2015 legislative sessions.

The following states are in regular session:[12]

In recess

As of today, September 28, there are three state legislatures currently in recess.[13]


Adjourned

The following states have adjourned their 2015 regular sessions:[14]

Special sessions

As of today, September 28, there are no state legislatures currently in special session.

2015 Legislative Elections

See also: State legislative elections, 2015

In the 50 states, there are 99 state legislative chambers, of which seven chambers will hold state legislative elections in November 2015.[16]

There are seven chambers in four states with elections in 2015:

A total of 131 of the country's 1,972 state senate seats and 407 of the country's 5,411 state house seats will be up for a vote. This accounts for 6.6 percent of the country's state senate seats and 7.5 percent of the country's state house seats. Altogether, 538 (7.3%) of the country's 7,383 state legislative seats are up for election. Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia hold elections in odd-numbered years. The New Jersey State Senate is the only chamber in those four states without scheduled elections in 2015.

Primary Information

The state legislative filing deadlines and primary dates are as follows:

Filing Deadlines

Primary Dates

Special Elections

SLP badge.png
See also: State legislative special elections, 2015

There is one special election and two special election primaries scheduled this week.

Alabama House of Representatives District 5

See also: Alabama state legislative special elections, 2016

A special election for the position of Alabama House of Representatives District 5 was called for February 16. A primary election took place on September 29, and a primary runoff election took place on December 8. The filing deadline for major party candidates wishing to run in this election was July 27. The filing deadline for third-party candidates was September 29.[21]

The seat was vacant following Dan Williams' (R) death on July 1.[22]

Henry White was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Ronnie Coffman, Danny Crawford, Mike Criscillis, Jerry Hill and Chris Seibert faced off in the Republican primary.[23] Since no candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote, the top two vote-getters, Seibert and Crawford, met in a Republican runoff election, which Crawford won.[24] White was defeated by Crawford in the special election.[25][26]

Democratic PartySeptember 29 Democratic primary candidates:
Republican PartySeptember 29 Republican primary candidates:

Minnesota House of Representatives District 3A

See also: Minnesota state legislative special elections, 2015

A special election for the position of Minnesota House of Representatives District 3A was called for December 8. A primary election was held on September 29. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was August 31.[27]

The seat was vacant following David Dill's (D) death from cancer on August 8.[28]

Rob Ecklund defeated Heidi Omerza, Eric Johnson and Bill Hansen in the Democratic primary. Roger Skraba was unopposed in the Republican primary. Kelsey Johnson ran as an independent candidate.[29] Ecklund defeated Skraba and Johnson (I) in the special general election.[27][30][31]

Minnesota House of Representatives, District 3A, Special Election, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Democratic Green check mark transparent.pngRob Ecklund 63.4% 4,591
     Republican Roger Skraba 19.3% 1,399
     Independent Kelsey Johnson 15.8% 1,144
     Other Write-ins 1.5% 109
Total Votes 7,243
Democratic PartySeptember 29 Democratic primary candidates:
Republican PartySeptember 29 Republican primary candidates:
Grey.pngIndependent Party candidates:

Wisconsin State Assembly District 99

See also: Wisconsin state legislative special elections, 2015

A special election for the position of Wisconsin State Assembly District 99 was called for September 29. A primary election took place on September 1. The filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was August 4.

The seat was vacant following Chris Kapenga's (R) election to the state Senate.[32]

Cindi Duchow defeated Scott Owens, Dave Westlake and Spencer Zimmerman in the Republican primary.[33] Duchow was unopposed in the special election.[34][35][32]

Wisconsin State Assembly, District 99 Republican Primary, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngCindi Duchow 40.2% 1,341
Dave Westlake 33% 1,101
Scott Owens 22.1% 737
Spencer Zimmerman 4.4% 146
Scattering 0.3% 11
Total Votes 3,336
Democratic Party September 1 Democratic primary candidates:
  • No candidates filed for election.
Republican Party September 1 Republican primary candidates:
September 29 Special election candidates:
Republican Party Cindi Duchow

Recent election results

September 22, 2015

☐ New Hampshire House of Representatives District Strafford 1

See also: New Hampshire state legislative special elections, 2015

A special election for the position of New Hampshire House of Representatives District Strafford 1 was called for November 10. A primary election took place on September 22.[36]

The seat was vacant following Robbie Parsons' (R) death on June 22, 2015.[37]

Larry Brown (D) was unopposed in the Democratic primary, while Robert Graham defeated Frank Emiro in the Republican primary. Brown was defeated by Graham in the special election.[38][39]

New Hampshire House of Representatives, Strafford1, Special Election, 2015
Party Candidate Vote % Votes
     Republican Green check mark transparent.pngRobert Graham 77.8% 259
     Democratic Larry Brown 22.2% 74
Total Votes 333
New Hampshire House of Representatives, Strafford1 Republican Primary, 2015
Candidate Vote % Votes
Green check mark transparent.pngRobert Graham 92.9% 92
Frank Emiro 7.1% 7
Total Votes 99
Democratic Party September 22 Democratic Primary candidates:
Republican Party September 22 Republican Primary candidates:
November 10 special election candidates:
Democratic Party Larry Brown
Republican Party Robert Graham

Looking ahead

Upcoming special elections include:

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The New Orleans Advocate, "Appeals court upholds district judge’s disqualification of Derrick Shepherd from House race," September 24, 2015
  2. ↑ Associated Press, "Court upholds election disqualification of former senator," September 24, 2015
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 The Times-Picayune, "Derrick Shepherd loses Jefferson appeal to stay on Oct. 24 ballot," September 24, 2015
  4. ↑ The Times-Picayune, "Derrick Shepherd wins election suit in one court, presses appeal," September 22, 2015
  5. ↑ The New Orleans Advocate, "Convicted felon Derrick Shepherd asking two courts to stop his ouster from House race," September 17, 2015
  6. ↑ WVUE, "Judge: Derrick Shepherd not qualified to run for legislature," September 18, 2015
  7. ↑ General Assembly of North Carolina, "House Bill 372 / S.L. 2015-245 (= S574)," accessed September 28, 2015
  8. ↑ wncn.com, "McCrory signs bill to revamp Medicaid in North Carolina," accessed September 28, 2015
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 newsobserver, "North Carolina to privatize Medicaid," accessed September 28, 2015
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 wral.com, "Medicaid overhaul in North Carolina now officially law," accessed September 28, 2015
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 wral.com, "Medicaid reform passes; could be years before patients see change," accessed September 28, 2015
  12. ↑ Stateside Associates, "Session Calendar 2015," accessed September 28, 2015
  13. ↑ StateNet, "Daily Session Summary," accessed September 28, 2015
  14. ↑ StateNet, "Daily Session Summary," accessed September 28, 2015
  15. ↑ Special session abruptly adjourned on August 17 with no agreement in place over redistricting congressional districts. The deadline to create new congressional maps was September 1. The new maps will be drawn by the courts.
  16. ↑ Mississippi, New Jersey and Virginia will hold general elections on November 3, 2015. Louisiana's general elections will be held on November 21.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 Mississippi Secretary of State, "2015 Elections," accessed January 2, 2015
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Mississippi Secretary of State, "2015 Election Calendar," accessed January 2, 2015
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 New Jersey Department of Elections, "2015 Primary Election Timeline," accessed February 2, 2015
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Virginia State Board of Elections, "2015 November Election Calendar," accessed January 2, 2015
  21. ↑ Office of Alabama Governor, "Governor Bentley Announces Special Election Timeline for House District 5," accessed July 21, 2015
  22. ↑ DecaturDaily.com, "Rep. Dan Williams, an elected official for nearly four decades, dies of leukemia," accessed July 2, 2015
  23. ↑ AL.com, "5 Republicans, 1 Democrat seek vacant Alabama House seat," July 28, 2015
  24. ↑ AL.com, "Familiar foes in GOP runoff for state House seat," accessed September 30, 2015
  25. ↑ whnt.com, "Danny Crawford wins special election to fill vacant Limestone County District 5 seat," accessed February 17, 2016
  26. ↑ AL.com, "Danny Crawford wins House GOP runoff in north Alabama," accessed December 8, 2015
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 Minnesota Secretary of State, "State Legislative District 3A Special Election," accessed August 24, 2015
  28. ↑ Lake County News-Chronicle, "State Rep. David Dill remember by local officials," accessed August 17, 2015
  29. ↑ Twincities.com, "Rob Ecklund wins northeast Minnesota special House seat primary," accessed September 30, 2015
  30. ↑ Duluth News Tribune, "Ecklund wins Minnesota House District 3A seat," accessed December 9, 2015
  31. ↑ Minnesota Secretary of State, "Official special election results," accessed December 15, 2015
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 channel3000.com, "Governor sets special election to fill open Assembly seat," July 29, 2015
  33. ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability, "Candidates Registered by Office," accessed August 5, 2015
  34. ↑ jsonline.com, "Cindi Duchow wins Waukesha County Republican Assembly primary," accessed September 2, 2015
  35. ↑ jsonline.com, "Duchow defeats write-in candidates for Assembly seat," accessed September 30, 2015
  36. ↑ Fosters, "Special election to be held in state rep. District 1," accessed September 3, 2015
  37. ↑ fosters.com, "State rep. loses battle with kidney cancer," accessed June 26, 2015
  38. ↑ fosters.com, "Graham, Brown to face off for state representative seat," accessed September 23, 2015
  39. ↑ New Hampshire Secretary of State, "Strafford County District No. 1 (Middleton, Milton)," accessed November 20, 2015
Retrieved from "https://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php?title=State_Legislative_Tracker:_North_Carolina_Gov._McCrory_signs_Medicaid_privatization_bill&oldid=9475371"