WASHINGTON — Politicians typically love to see their names stamped on a piece of legislation. But not like this.
In a swipe at Nebraska’s Medicaid exemption that critics call the “Cornhusker kickback,” a couple of Republican state lawmakers in Tennessee have introduced a bill entitled the Ben Nelson Act to Ensure Political Integrity.
The bill would make it a Class A misdemeanor for any public servant to trade votes for special budgetary exemptions or fiscal benefits for his or her district.
Larry Sabato, political scientist at the University of Virginia, laughed when told of the Tennessee proposal.
“We don’t have enough prison space in the country to house all the congressmen and state legislators who would have to be incarcerated,” Sabato said. “Obviously it’s ridiculous. You don’t criminalize politics. That’s why we have elections.”
The fact that state-level politicians in Tennessee are trying to score points with their constituents off a senator from Nebraska shows the enormous amount of national attention that the Medicaid deal has received, Sabato said.
“It’s a silly idea,” he said, “but they’re trying to capitalize on Nelson’s problems, and that’s a commentary on how controversial Nelson’s actions were.”
The Tennessee bill was prompted by reports of various special deals involved in the U.S. Senate’s health care bill, particularly the Nebraska Medicaid exemption, said one of the sponsors, Rep. Bill Dunn of Knoxville, a Republican and former Tennessee House minority leader.
Before committing to vote for the health care bill, Nelson raised concerns about its Medicaid expansion and the potential impact on Nebraska’s state budget. He said he pressed to let states opt out. Instead, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada exempted Nebraska from the additional costs.
Democrat Nelson then cast the 60th vote to prevent a filibuster by Senate Republicans.
“Sen. Nelson, even though he realized this could ruin the finances of states, he went ahead and voted for it as long as he protected his state,” Dunn said. “So he voted for what he knew was bad policy, just because he got favoritism.”
Nelson said Thursday that the lawmakers behind the Tennessee proposal are among those who don’t understand the purpose of the exemption.
“They obviously don’t have all the facts,” Nelson said.
He repeatedly has said that Nebraska’s exemption was never meant to be a special deal for his home state. Instead, he said, it was a placeholder that ultimately would grant all states relief from the additional costs of the Medicaid expansion.
Earlier this month, he officially asked that the exemption be removed and that all states be treated equally.
Nelson said his actions on the health care bill “blew the whistle” on an unfunded federal mandate that will affect Tennessee and every other state.
“Maybe they need to pass a whistle-blower’s protection act,” Nelson said of the Tennessee lawmakers. “We have one in Nebraska.”
Dunn said he’s not sure he buys Nelson’s explanation that he was looking out for all states. “(But) I’m glad that his conscience bothered him enough that he rescinded his action.”
Oh, and it’s not unusual in his part of Tennessee to name something after a U.S. senator from another state. Dunn said a nearby Tennessee Valley Authority project — Norris Dam — was named for a “senator from someplace out west.”
That would be TVA author Sen. George Norris — Nelson’s hometown hero from McCook, Neb., who served in Congress from 1913 to 1943.
Contact the writer:
202-662-7270, joe.morton@owh.com
