The Governor's State Of The State

He issues he addressed are important.

He said we should fully fund education.

I agree.

He said we need to find a way to fund Medicaid responsibly.

I agree.

He said we need to act to expand economic progress and opportunity.

I agree.

He said we need to root out inefficiency and waste.

Again I agree.

Governor Barbour and state legislative leaders agree on what the major issues are.

What they will disagree over is how to accomplish those goals.

One example is that the governor wants to fill the Medicaid gap by forcing a fee (read tax) on public and private hospitals.

Opponents to that idea say that such a move would only cause hospitals to pass along higher costs to already burdened patients.

That might be a tough sell.

The good news is that unlike at the national level Democrats and Republican in this state appear to agree on the issues that are important. We're going to have a spirited debate this session and I think that too is a good thing.