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Not budging But when asked whether there was any chance of expanding the program, Sen. Tommy Tucker (R-Waxhaw) was blunt. “No way,” said Tucker, who is an outspoken member of the Senate Health Committee. “We can’t take on that kind of a bite of an apple like that, because we don’t know what’s gonna happen [at the federal level].” Tucker was dismissive of other Republican-led states that had made the move. Lee Storrow from the NC AIDS Action Network shows someone who came to the legislature Tuesday some case studies of working people who would benefit from Medicaid expansion. Photo credit: Rose Hoban “They only reason they’re doing it is because the Republicans in Washington couldn’t get their health care bill through,” he said. “So they’re going to put a stake in something that we all know potentially is going to blow up… we’re not going there.” He said that for this year, budget writers have been told to keep the Medicaid budget on a “flat line.” Despite the resistance in the legislature, Lee Storrow from the North Carolina AIDS Action Network said he’s going to keep organizing days like Tuesday to bring people to the General Assembly to talk to lawmakers. “As advocates doing work for people who need health care it’s our job to continue to raise awareness about the fact that expanding Medicaid and closing the coverage gap would save hundreds of lives and create thousands of jobs,” he said. “We’re going to continue to beat the drum the best we can.”