"Derogatory
remark" chalked on the sidewalk outside PA Gov. Tom Corbett's mansion
(Credit: Raging Chicken Press)
"Derogatory remark" chalked on the sidewalk outside PA Gov. Tom Corbett's mansion (Credit: Raging Chicken Press)
A health care activist in Pennsylvania was arrested Wednesday
night for writing a message in sidewalk chalk protesting the governor’s
decision to block health care for700,000 residents in the state.
Like many Republican
governors around the country, Gov. Tom Corbett (R-PA) hasopposed expanding Medicaid in Pennsylvania, even though the federal
government would fully fund the program for the first three years. Though some
Republicans in the state legislature are working on legislation to expand Medicaid, Corbett has said he wouldn’t support any bill
unless it significantly altered the program.
As lawmakers consider
legislation this week, many activists are putting pressure on Corbett,
including a dozen uninsured Pennsylvanians who staged a sit-in at the State Capitol on Wednesday. According to local Pennsylvania
blog Raging Chicken Press,
the demonstrators were kicked out of the building that evening, after which a
number of them continued to protest outside the governor’s mansion. At one
point, health care activist AJ Marin was arrested for writing a message to
Corbett in chalk on the sidewalk: “Governor Corbett has health insurance, we
should too.” According to the citation, Marin was charged with disorderly
conduct for writing a “derogatory remark about the governor on the sidewalk.”
See the citation below:
Corbett is the only governor in the region who opposes the Medicaid expansion. Even nearby Republican Govs.
Chris Christie (R-NJ), John Kasich (R-OH), and Rick Snyder (R-MI) all support expanding Medicaid in their states.
Not only would expanding
Medicaid in the state give 700,000 Pennsylvanians health care while not costing
the state a dime for three years, a recent study also found that it would add $3 billion per year to the state’s
GDP and create 35,000 jobs.
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