A new report by The Buckeye Institute finds that the Controlling Board lacks the lawful authority to approve Governor Kasich’s request to appropriate federal funds for Medicaid expansion, and that any appropriation would undoubtedly give rise to a significant legal challenge.

Ohio law limits the authority of the Controlling Board to actions that are consistent with the legislative intent of the General Assembly-not the intent of the Governor. The overwhelming weight of the evidence makes clear that the General Assembly intended to reject funding for Medicaid expansion.

Robert Alt, President of The Buckeye Institute and co-author of the report, said “The General Assembly flatly rejected Governor Kasich’s request to fund Medicaid expansion. The Governor’s attempt to short-circuit the ordinary legislative process to reverse a decision of the General Assembly that he dislikes is too cute by half, and is foreclosed by Ohio law.”

The Buckeye Institute’s Visiting Fellow and report co-author Nathaniel Stewart noted that “As a matter of law, Governor Kasich could not use his line-item veto to re-insert Medicaid expansion funding that the General Assembly removed from his budget. And as a matter of law, the Governor cannot now use the Controlling Board to reverse the General Assembly’s funding decision.”

You may view the full report here.