Cole County Judge Declares Medicaid Expansion Unconstitutional

A Cole County judge rules on behalf of the State in a lawsuit over funding for Medicaid expansion.

Judge Jon Beetem ruled that the initiative was unconstitutional because it didn’t include a way to pay for the new enrollees.

In his ruling, Beetem wrote that the state’s constitution is clear that an initiative petition can only spend or appropriate revenue specifically raised in the initiative.

The plaintiffs argued that the state has the money to pay for the expansion whether the funding was passed or not.

In response, Beetem wrote “If the court allows them to spend other state revenues by initiative, such action would deprive the General Assembly of its constitutional right to appropriate revenues in all other non-initiative circumstances.”