The House overturned 11 of the 47 vetoes Gov. John Kasich issued on the state budget – the first time in 40 years lawmakers have overridden a budget veto in Ohio.
But Kasich is warning lawmakers their decisions have consequences.
Nine of the 11 items veto overrides were Medicaid related, though lawmakers did not try to override Kasich’s veto of a freeze on Medicaid expansion enrollment next year.
One veto override now requires Kasich to go every six months to the panel of lawmakers on the Controlling Board for permission to spend some Medicaid money. Budget director Tim Keen says that’s a problem since he says lawmakers didn’t put enough money into running Medicaid in the first place.
“There are $260 million that are tied up in the Controlling Board – that’s the state share dollars that we do not have access to without their approval to run the program. That creates a significant level of uncertainty to the operation of the Medicaid program,” he said.
Kasich warned lawmakers in a statement that the veto overrides will be a problem and they’ll be blamed, and "If you break it, you own it.”
