Tea Party activists are threatening to put up primary challengers against Republican lawmakers who vote to expand Medicaid in Michigan.
As The Michigan Public Radio Network’s Jake Neher reports, the state Senate is likely to take up the legislation this week.
The bill would add hundreds of thousands of Michiganders to the Medicaid rolls under the federal healthcare law. Tea Party groups claim it would be the biggest expansion of state government in more than four decades. And they say Republican votes in favor of the bill warrant a primary challenge next year.
State Senate GOP spokesperson Amber McCann says members of the caucus would be able to defend their conservative credentials in a primary challenge.
“I think the least effective way to further a conservative agenda is to cannibalize other conservatives,” she says.
Republicans were split on the bill when it passed the state House last week.