The Texas House voted today to close a $4 billion gap in the budget to pay for Medicaid, the health care program for the poor and disabled.
The House passed an emergency spending bill to make up for a shortfall in the 2011 state budget.
“We must make these payments to continue paying Texas’ doctors, nurses, hospitals, nursing homes and many other health care providers working to maintain the health and safety of Texans,” said Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts, R-Waxahachie, who introduced the bill.
The Texas Senate is the emergency spending bill’s next stop.
Democrats had wanted to add money to make up for the more than $45 billion in cuts to public education in the 2011 budget. That will have to wait until later in the session.
