[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 5]
[House]
[Pages 6564-6565]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                      UNFUNDED MANDATES ON STATES

  (Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania asked and was given permission to 
address the House for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. THOMPSON of Pennsylvania. Mr. Speaker, I received a letter from a 
member of the Pennsylvania State House explaining a resolution he has 
introduced to stop the Federal Government from imposing unfunded 
mandates on the State. The resolution cites

[[Page 6565]]

the Urban Institute as estimating Pennsylvania will see an additional 
818,390 people eligible for Medicaid under the health care reform law. 
The cost to the Commonwealth of that additional burden totals $2.31 
billion between 2014 and 2019. Some 12 percent of Pennsylvania is now 
enrolled in Medicaid, making welfare entitlements one of the top-
spending categories in the budget.
  The resolution states that on September 9, 2009, the President 
promised that health legislation being considered by Congress would not 
add to the Federal deficit but was silent about States bearing the 
weight of unfunded mandates. The proposed legislation asks Congress to 
refrain from imposing unfunded mandates on the State and asks that 
every Member be given a copy.
  We already have a law against unfunded mandates, but that did not 
stop the Democrat majority from adding a huge burden on the States with 
this new law. I agree with this resolution and will encourage 
Pennsylvania legislators to support it.

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