It has been six weeks since Gov. Josh Stein’s unprecedented cuts to Medicaid reimbursements took effect. Legislators have repeatedly called for Gov. Stein to delay his cuts to the program, citing the process followed by previous administrations to work with legislators to fund whatever gap may exist.

With his latest attempt in gamesmanship, Gov. Stein issued a proclamation calling an extra legislative session for this Monday November 17th for legislators to address the crisis of Stein’s own making.

In response to Gov. Stein’s proclamation, Speaker Destin Hall and Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger signed a joint letter yesterday rejecting Gov. Stein’s attempt to bring them back to session. Citing the North Carolina constitution, Speaker Hall and Senator Berger stated:

The Proclamation fails to follow the requirements of the Constitution. Article III, Section 5(7) authorizes a governor to convene the General Assembly in “extra session” only “on extraordinary occasions.” The General Assembly is already in session. Your Proclamation is therefore ineffective and functions as an unconstitutional attempt to usurp the General Assembly’s authority to set its calendar. 

Article III, Section 5(7) also limits such a session to “extraordinary occasions” in order to ensure that the exercise of the enormous power given to the Governor to call the legislative branch to session is justified. Otherwise, the Governor could violate Article I, Section 6 of the Constitution and use the proclamation power for political abuse and gamesmanship. This power was never meant to be used as a platform for political messaging or to circumvent the legislative process to achieve a preferred political outcome.

The letter then goes on to say:

To that end, if circumstances surrounding the Medicaid rebase are in fact extraordinary, it is only in the context of your administration’s failure to address them. For instance, the General Assembly recently appropriated an additional $600 million for Medicaid. Rather than using the full amount for services, you and the DHHS leadership chose to take nearly $100 million off the top for administrative expenses.

Further, the DHHS consistently reverts money to the General Fund. Last year, the DHHS reverted $110 million and carried forward $243 million, including $166 million from the state’s Medicaid budget. In other words, the amount of unused funds available to the Department at the end of last year exceeds the amount of the “shortfall” that ostensibly precipitated the Proclamation. The DHHS Secretary publicly acknowledged that the amount the General Assembly provided was sufficient to fund the estimated Medicaid expenses well into the new year. Despite this, the DHHS chose to proceed with these harmful cuts.

House leaders have repeatedly taken action to fund Medicaid, including passing three clean bills in September and October. We applaud Speaker Hall and the supportive legislators for their commitment to follow the constitution and keep their promises to the people of North Carolina, and for rejecting this latest stunt by Gov. Stein.