The group Support the Dream Defenders has been sending Freedom of Information requests to Republican Governors and legislators who have refused Medicaid Expansion. We have asked these Republicans to tell us what they are doing to track the number of people in their states who they are killing or forcing into bankruptcy because of their decision not to expand Medicaid.
Our group has sent out 22 requests in 22 states and have heard back from 19 Governors or state legislators in 19 states, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Louisiana, Maine, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. We have not received responses (or at least reasonable responses) from Alaska, North Carolina and Kansas.
Today we sue Kansas.
The lawsuit was put in the mail today with a destination of the District Clerk of Shawnee County, Kansas. The lone defendant is Kansas Governor Sam Brownback. Brownback's Chief Counsel has responded twice to our requests, but with an old lawyer's dodge called the universal boilerplate objection. That is, when a party requests a number of things--and we requested three separate items of information from the Kansas Office of the Governor--the responding party cannot make universal boilerplate objections to all of the requested information.
Is Kansas hiding something? Are they afraid of sunshine? To get an actual response from Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, and to shed light on the state's decision to deny Medicaid Expansion, we felt it necessary to file suit. Here is our Press Release:
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