Padden says bill is ‘unnecessary, unconstitutional and could prove costly for state’
The Senate Ways and Means Committee will hold a public hearing at 3:30 p.m. today on House Bill 2330, a controversial measure that would require private-insurance plans which provide maternity coverage to also pay for elective abortions.
“Proponents of this legislation are jeopardizing nearly six billion dollars’ worth of revenue from the federal government through their support of this bill, which almost certainly constitutes a violation of federal law,” said Sen. Mike Padden, R-Spokane Valley and a chief opponent of the measure.
Padden, along with other Senate Republicans, sent a letter to Governor Gregoire in late January detailing some possible ramifications of HB 2330 (and its Senate companion bill, SB 6185). It warns of the conflict between HB 2330 and a provision in the federal omnibus appropriations bill (H.R. 2055) passed in December, specifically within the “Department of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2012”: