When it comes to governors embracing Affordable Care Act implementation and expanding Medicaid to help low-income families, we tend to think of progressive blue-state governors. There are several Republicans who've followed suit, but they've done so with great reluctance.
But in an unexpected twist, it seems no governor is more enthusiastic about Medicaid expansion than Arizona's Jan Brewer.
Gov. Jan Brewer sent five bills to the scrap heap Thursday in a pointed gesture intended to prod lawmakers into a deal on the budget and her plan to expand Medicaid.
The five vetoes, follow-through on Brewer's promise to block legislation until her top priorities move forward, capped a tense day that saw some lawmakers receive threats over their support for the plan to provide health care for more of the state's poor.
In letters explaining her actions, Brewer revealed a growing impatience with the Legislature, which she noted has been in session for 130 days and has only five weeks until the constitutional deadline for a fiscal 2014 budget.
It was surprising enough when Brewer endorsed "Obamacare" expansion in January. Indeed, it caught much of the political world off-guard -- the Arizona Republican has earned a reputation for being a very conservative opponent of President Obama and the White House's agenda. But on Medicaid, Brewer apparently did the math and concluded she'd be a fool to reject the Obama administration's offer.
State House Republicans, at least so far, don't see it that way and have been willing to ignore her demands. Brewer, in turn, is playing hardball, telling the state legislature -- where there are Republican majorities in both chambers -- that she'll veto literally every bill that passes until lawmakers get Medicaid expansion done.
GOP lawmakers apparently thought she was bluffing, and approved unrelated measures. As promised, Brewer vetoed the bills and reiterated her threat. The state Senate is already on board with the governor's position, but the state House remains opposed.
And so arguably the biggest "Obamacare" implementation fight in the nation is underway in Arizona, where a conservative Republican governor is fighting her own allies. It's a dynamic that would have been hard to predict six months ago.