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U.S. NEWS Saturday 24 June 2017

5 GOP legislation on Thursday,
four
conservatives
said
they opposed it. They were
senators Sens. Ron Johnson of Wis-
consin, Mike Lee of Utah,
Rand Paul of Kentucky and
Continued from front Ted Cruz of Texas.
Underscoring the sensitivity
“I cannot support a piece of the bill, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-
of legislation that takes in- Iowa, who has not suggest-
surance away from tens of ed she opposes the mea-
millions of Americans and sure, declined to comment
tens of thousands of Neva- on its components when
dans,” Heller said. asked at a news confer-
Trump has spoken favor- ence Friday.
ably about both the House- “It was just released yester-
passed bill and the Senate day. So, we have 142 pag-
version unveiled this week, es to go through,” she said.
though he declared sever- Asked about the bill’s im-
al times as he ramped up pact on Medicaid insur-
his campaign for the presi- ance coverage for lower-
dency that he would not income Iowans, Ernst said,
cut Medicaid. “I wouldn’t say they are
Heller said that to win his losing it.” Iowa opted to
vote, GOP leaders would expand, and has added
have to “protect Medicaid more than 150,000 people Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., during a press conference where he announced he will vote no on the
expansion states” from the to its rolls since 2014. proposed GOP healthcare bill at the Grant Sawyer State Office Building on Friday, June 23, 2017
in Las Vegas.
bill’s current cuts. Under special rules McCo- Associated Press
“It’s going to be very diffi- nnell is using that will block
cult to get me to a yes,” he Democrats from using a
said, noting that conserva- filibuster to kill the bill, the
tive Republican senators legislation cannot include
would likely be reluctant to provisions that make policy
add spending back to the changes that don’t primar-
measure. ily affect the budget. The
Heller spoke at a news Senate parliamentarian
conference in Las Vegas will make that decision.
with Nevada Gov. Brian Democrats hope to use
Sandoval, a Republican those rules to erase some
who has also assailed the language from the bill, in-
House and Senate health cluding a section barring
care bills for cutting Med- consumers from using the
icaid. The state has add- measure’s health care tax
ed 200,000 more people credits to buy insurance
to its program under the that covers abortions.
Obama overhaul. Realizing they’re outnum-
Sandoval said the Senate bered, Democrats and
bill “is something that needs their liberal allies were
to change.” It would be planning events around
politically difficult for Heller the U.S. over the next few
to take a different stance days aimed at building
on the measure from the public opposition to the
popular Sandoval. bill.
Heller got an opponent for In one instance, Sen. Ber-
next year when first-year nie Sanders, I-Vt., and
Democratic Rep. Jacky MoveOn.org were plan-
Rosen announced this ning weekend rallies in
week she would seek his Pennsylvania, Ohio and
Senate seat. West Virginia. Each state
Just hours after McCon- has expanded Medicaid
nell released the 142-page and has a GOP senator.q