Massachusetts Lawmaker Introduces Bill with FMAP and Unemployment Insurance Extensions

Senator Brown (R-MA) introduced legislation Wednesday—the Fiscally Responsible Relief for Our States Act of 2010—intended to break the “logjam on funding for unemployment assistance, FMAP and summer jobs without raising taxes or adding to the national debt.”  In his press release, Brown recognized the severe hardship that will occur if Massachusetts and other states dependent on the FMAP extension fail to see these funds materialize. His legislation uses “unspent stimulus funds and cuts wasteful and unnecessary spending in other areas to pay for these important programs.”  The FMAP extension is at the same level-- extension to June 30, 2011 with January to March 2011 enhanced FMAP rate to states at 3.2% and April to June 2011 at 1.2% rate--as that contained in a compromised Senate bill that stalled last week again when Majority Leader Reid (D-NV) failed to gain the 60 votes necessary to end a filibuster. Brown’s FMAP provision requires that the chief executive of each state certify that the state will “request and use such additional Federal funds’’ in order to receive the enhanced FMAP.   ANCOR is unaware of any Senate or House leadership plans to address FMAP in the near future; however, that could change later this summer or fall. This underlines the importance of ANCOR members reaching out to their members of Congress over the Independence Day recess. See ANCOR's Action Alert for more information.