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SALT LAKE CITY — House Speaker Greg Hughes, R-Draper, on Tuesday said House Republicans are waiting for the Senate and the governor to make the next move in negotiations over the governor's Healthy Utah alternative to Medicaid expansion.
"If the saying is, 'It takes two to tango,' in this little dance, we've got three that have to tango, right? I think the House has been dancing the whole time. We're moving," Hughes told reporters.
The House continued to hold on to a bill containing Utah Cares that passed the House on Friday, a scaled-back version of the governor's plan to provide health care to low-income Utahns, preventing Senate action.
The Republican-controlled Senate approved the governor's Healthy Utah plan, which uses the federal funds available for Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act, but it failed in a House committee.
The governor and Senate leaders continued to say Tuesday that there's time for a compromise before the session ends at midnight Thursday, but there was little to indicate that's still possible.
"I hope that communications continue on and there's an opportunity for some kind of meaningful compromise," Herbert said. "Whether it happens or not remains to be seen. But I'm hopeful."
If the saying is, 'It takes two to tango,' in this little dance, we've got three that have to tango, right? I think the House has been dancing the whole time. We're moving.
–House speaker Greg Hughes
The governor said he did not expect the House to keep the Utah Cares bill from being debated in the Senate. He said his proposed compromise, to use Healthy Utah for two years and then switch to Utah Cares, appears to have been rejected.
Senate President Wayne Niederhauser, R-Sandy, downplayed any frustration with the House. He described the "natural tension" between the House, Senate and governor as "a good thing most of the time."
Hughes said the Senate and the governor now need "to move as well. We need everybody ready to dance. I think we've shown we have the ability to do it" by passing Utah Cares.
The speaker said during a media availability that was initially canceled that the Republican-controlled Senate and GOP governor "are just sourpusses" if they can't find a way to settle the issue.
Hughes said he wants to "resist any ultimatums because I don't think it promotes any fertile ground for people to come together, but I will tell you that we have a track record."
Majority House Republicans, he said, have demonstrated a willingness to compromise after being opposed to taking any action on Medicaid expansion at the start of the 45-day session in late January.
"We would like to see some of that as well," Hughes said.
The continued conflict over Healthy Utah, which would offer better coverage to more people at a lower cost than Utah Cares, comes as a new poll says Utahns generally side more with Herbert than the Legislature.
Well, it is frustrating. But it's not just frustrating for me. I expect that is it frustrating for the public, for the people of Utah who expect us to come up here and solve problems. I also expect it's frustrating for the Senate.
–Gov. Gary Herbert
The UtahPolicy.com poll by Dan Jones & Associates found that 48 percent of Utahns agree more with the governor when he has a conflict with lawmakers, compared with 21 percent who tend to side with the Legislature.
Nearly one-third, 31 percent, of the respondents said they didn't know. The poll, conducted March 3-5 of 406 registered voters, has a margin of error of plus or minus nearly 5 percent.
The governor said the poll results are a reflection that he "has a little higher profile" than lawmakers on issues "that are just the common-sense reflection of what the people of Utah want us to do. We're here to solve problems."
Herbert acknowledged he's frustrated over the lack of progress on solving Health Utah.
"Well, it is frustrating. But it's not just frustrating for me. I expect that is it frustrating for the public, for the people of Utah who expect us to come up here and solve problems. I also expect it's frustrating for the Senate," the governor said.
The House, too, he said, is probably struggling to understand why there's so little agreement with their plan. The governor said no one "should waste time on personalities and taking this as a personal affront" because there's disagreement.
Hughes canceled a meeting Tuesday with the governor and the Senate president, but his spokesman, Chuck Gates, said that was "nothing out of the ordinary" because at least two similar meetings have been canceled in the past few weeks.
If a compromise isn't found before midnight Thursday, Herbert said the state still has to deal with Medicaid expansion. Some 60,000 Utahns in the so-called coverage gap receive no federal help with health care costs unless action is taken.
"It's not going to go away," the governor said. "The problem is still going to be there. We're going to have to solve it sometime."
