Montana’s Americans For Prosperity Goofed Criticizing Medicaid Expansion Bill

Governor Steve Bullock presents his State of the State speech to a joint session in the house chambers of state Capitol in Helena, Mont., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015. Bullock touched on expanding health coverage as well... Governor Steve Bullock presents his State of the State speech to a joint session in the house chambers of state Capitol in Helena, Mont., Wednesday, Jan. 28, 2015. Bullock touched on expanding health coverage as well as his $400 million infrastructure and urged the GOP-controlled Legislature to overlook partisanship. (AP Photo/The Independent Record, Thom Bridge) MORE LESS
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The Montana chapter of Americans for Prosperity goofed when it was responding to the state’s House of Representatives approving legislation to expand Medicaid.

After the House passed the legislation on Thursday night, according to The Great Falls Tribune, Montana AFP state director Zach Lahn released a statement saying that his group was “deeply disappointed in the state legislature’s decision tonight to expand Medicaid. This decision stands directly against the voices of millions of Montanans who have made it clear that they do not want more Obamacare.”

But the last census estimate from 2014 said Montana’s population was 1,023,579, up slightly from the 2013 estimate of 1,014,864. Twitter took notice and the hashtag #millionsofmontanans took off, with Gov. Steve Bullock (D) and Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) weighing in.

Lahn later released a statement saying his group made a mistake. He kept criticizing the move to expand Medicaid though.

“Two mistakes were made yesterday. One was in our press release, the other was on the house floor with the passage of Medicaid expansion,” Lahn wrote in an email, according to the Tribune. “The latter mistake will have a devastating impact on state budget and the lives of Montanans who have made it known that they reject Obamacare. Our organization and our 14,000 Montana activists will be holding lawmakers accountable for that mistake in years to come.”

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