McCoy: We need upturn in national, state economy

By Staff
Medicaid expenses are determined by the number of people who qualify, by the number of services that are allowed and by the amount of money that we allow for each service. We must deal with those three specifics. I do not expect anything to be done that would change the eligibility.
We have expanded the program, more people are eligible. I do not expect the eligibility to be affected to any great degree. But we're constantly looking at services and the cost we allow for service. We're constantly looking at more economical ways to provide the services, and so I think an awful lot has been done.
We've undergone a true experience with it in trying to provide the needed services to the eligible participants and still stay somewhere within the realm of possibility so far as dollars are concerned.
The Star: Tell us a little bit about how you will go about choosing the people to lead specific committees.
McCoy: We've had experience, we've worked together and we know one another. All the incumbent members, whether they've served one term or not. Once you've served in the House with someone for even a year, you get to know an awful lot about them and their abilities, desires and so we'll take all of that into account.
Then it is an absolute "must" that we consider the great diversity of the House as we think about these positions. That's regional diversity, racial diversity and political party diversity unlike Congress and many states, we're not divided by aisles. There are people who would like for us to be, but we don't want to do that.
Then there's the philosophical differences that everyone has. We want to consider all of those and make sure the great diversity of the House is considered when dealing with assignments. We're very careful, not just with chairmanships, but with the make-up of a committee.
When we finish you'll note that makeup of the committee has the complete diversity of the House.
It takes an awful lot of time. Then we've got rules that dictate what members can do, to a point. Seniority is all-important, and overbearing with Appropriations and Ways and Means. When you move outside the seniority committees and the elected committees, then the speaker, of course, has total discretion with the others.
The Star: Talk about your leadership style and how lawmakers can expect it to differ from Ford's.
McCoy: I don't want to compare myself with anybody. What we're going to do is have a very open process, of course speaker Ford did also. But we're going to have a very open door to the members. First of all, we'll have a very open door to the citizens … we're going to give our very best every day to listen.