Idaho Democratic Party Chairman Larry Kenck says Republicans in the Legislature are scared  to take up Medicaid expansion bills because they fear “blowback from their ‘return to the gold standard’ faction.” With Friday’s hoped-for adjournment dashed by Wednesday’s Senate defeat of the K-12 budget, Kenck urges citizens to pressure lawmakers over the weekend to reconsider and agree to take up two bills that a state-commissioned study estimates would save property taxpayers $478 million over 10 years. The expansion would add federally subsidized health insurance for about 100,000 low-income Idahoans, lifting the burden from county taxpayers. Delaying six months beyond Jan. 1, 2014, will cost taxpayers an estimated $41 million, according to Gov. Butch Otter’s Medicaid Expansion Workgroup/Dan Popkey, Idaho Statesman. More here.

Question: Are Republican legislators too afraid to take up an issue that will help the state's poor but alienate the noisy Fringe Right in their party?