Kasich faces Friday deadline to sign budget, issue vetoes
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio Gov. John Kasich has a deadline of midnight Friday to sign the state’s biennial budget and decide whether he will veto certain provisions included by the Legislature, including the proposed freeze on Medicaid enrollment.
The Republican governor is widely expected to veto the Medicaid restrictions. That sets up a faceoff with the state’s GOP-controlled Legislature, which has already scheduled sessions Thursday for a potential override.
The $65 billion, two-year budget bill calls for Kasich to seek a federal waiver allowing Ohio to suspend new enrollees eligible under the Medicaid expansion. That expansion now covers about 700,000 low-income Ohioans. Kasich’s office has estimated about 500,000 Ohioans would lose coverage within the first 18 months of the freeze.
Opponents also want Kasich to veto work requirements added to the program.