Health care access fund trouble

Gov. Pawlenty offered a budget proposal yesterday to the legislature in an effort to toss a rope over the chasm between what he wants and what DFLers want.

He offered to cut the amount used from the Health Care Access Fund from $250 million to $125 million. However, he would require the legislature to make $125 million in other, unspecified cuts. He would also use some of the state's general fund budget reserves, instead of the DFL-proposed use of the state's $350 million cash flow account.

I don't know if the DFLers will bite on this one. I'm betting not.

If you recall, the Health Care Access Fund is supposed to fund health care (hence its name). The Democrats don't want any of this money being used for something for which it wasn't alloted.