A South Dakota legislative committee blocked a measure Monday that would have allowed the state’s voters to decide in November if they wanted to expand Medicaid under Obamacare.
The Associated Press reported that the resolution was defeated along party lines, with seven Republicans voting against it and two Democrats supporting it in the State Affairs Committee. The Republicans said that allowing voters to make a decision that should be left to the legislature would set a bad precedent.
A January poll found that 63 percent of South Dakotans supported expanding Medicaid under the health care reform law. The expansion would cover close to 50,000 low-income residents in the state.
Democrats in the state Senate had proposed the resolution.
