Publisher's Note: This post appears here courtesy of the Carolina Journal. The author of this post is CJ Staff.
Republican leaders of the North Carolina General Assembly have rejected Gov. Josh Stein's call for an extra legislative session dealing with Medicaid next week, calling the move unconstitutional and unnecessary.
In a letter sent to the governor Thursday, Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, and House Speaker Destin Hall, R-Caldwell, said Stein's proclamation for lawmakers to reconvene on Monday does not comply with the North Carolina Constitution.
"The Proclamation fails to follow the requirements of the Constitution," Berger and Hall wrote.
"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."
The leaders also said the governor's use of the extraordinary session power was politically motivated.
"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," the letter continued.
"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 dispute centers on the Department of Health and Human Services' handling of Medicaid reimbursements and recent rate cuts that the Stein administration implemented Oct. 1. Stein has argued that additional legislative action is needed to maintain provider payments, but legislative leaders say the agency already has sufficient funding.
"Gov. Stein's call is not extraordinary. This is a self-inflicted 'crisis' that was entirely avoidable," Berger and Hall said in a joint statement.
"All Gov. Stein and the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary had to do was pause their Medicaid reimbursement rate cuts."
According to fiscal analysts cited by legislative leaders, DHHS
"consistently reverts and carries forward money at the end of the fiscal year." In the last fiscal year, the department reportedly reverted $110 million to the General Fund and carried forward $243 million, including $166 million in Medicaid funds.
Legislators noted that when they allocated an additional $600 million to address the Medicaid rebase, DHHS
"decided to use $100 million of that to cover administrative costs, not services." They also cited public comments from the DHHS secretary acknowledging that Medicaid funding was sufficient
"for Medicaid to operate uninterrupted until April 2026."
Despite that, the department is now requesting another $190 million, which legislative leaders said represents about 2% of the total estimated $23 billion in Medicaid spending, including federal funds.
"Instead of political gamesmanship, Gov. Stein should be working with his agency to get its financial house in order," the statement said.
Hall reiterated that message in a separate release.
"With this call for an extra session, Gov. Stein is trying to shift blame from his self-created crisis," Hall said.
"He can and should simply stop all Medicaid cuts since the legislature will be back this spring with more than enough time to add additional funds if needed. The North Carolina House will not tolerate political games being played at the expense of people's health and access to care. That's why the House has acted responsibly by passing three clean bills to fund the rebase and protect North Carolinians."
Hall added that House lawmakers
"have been informed not to expect voting sessions in the legislature next week."
The letter from Berger and Hall concluded that the General Assembly
"will not convene upon" the governor's call, arguing that Stein's move
"functions as an unconstitutional attempt to usurp the General Assembly's authority to set its calendar."
"Gov. Stein's trumped-up 'crisis' is not 'extraordinary,' and thus the General Assembly will not convene upon his call," the leaders said.
