Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer expected to veto 'religious freedom' bill - CNN.com

Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer expected to veto 'religious freedom' bill - CNN.com
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
All signs indicate Arizona Gov. Jan Brewer will likely veto politically-charged legislation that supporters say promotes religious freedom and opponents contend discriminates against gays and lesbians.

Brewer did not signal her intention either way in an exclusive interview with CNN on Monday at the National Governors Association meeting in Washington. "I can assure you, as always, I will do the right thing for the state of Arizona," she said.

But some Arizona Republicans who know her well say they are confident those comments mean Brewer will almost surely reject the bill that is generating nationwide controversy.

The Republican-led measure would allow Arizona business owners to deny service to gay and lesbian customers as long as they assert their religious beliefs.

Brewer is scheduled to return to Arizona on Tuesday, and a source tells CNN those familiar with her thinking say she will likely spend at least one full business day in the state before acting. "I'm going to go home,

and when I receive the bill, I'm going to read it and I'm going to be briefed on it. We have been following it. And I will make my decision in the near future," Brewer told CNN.

She has until Saturday to sign or veto the bill. If she does nothing, it automatically becomes law. Arizona GOP sources say Brewer considers herself a pro-business governor -- someone who above all else wants to protect and promote Arizona's economic interests. They say she knows full well there will be economic consequences for the state if it has a law on the books perceived to effectively codify discrimination.

"I have a history of deliberating and having an open dialogue on bills that are controversial, to listen to both sides of those issues, and I welcome the input, and information that they can provide to me. And certainly I
am pro-business, and that is what's turning our economy around, so I appreciate their input, as I appreciate the other side," Brewer said.

Business leaders in Arizona and around the country, including the chief executive of American Airlines, have urged Brewer publicly and privately to veto the bill. Approval also is likely to trigger lawsuits. The bill was pushed by the Center for Arizona Policy, a conservative group opposed to abortion and same-sex marriage.

The group argues the proposal protects people against increasingly activist federal courts.

Brewer vetoed a similar bill last year, arguing that the state legislature should focus on more pressing issues, such as a Medicaid expansion plan she was promoting. Sources say she is concerned about this bill taking away from other issues she is now pressing, such as overhauling Arizona's child protective services

system.

Obamacare Enrollment Reaches 4 Million

Obamacare Enrollment Reaches 4 Million

 
JohnButts@JBMedia - Reports:
Approximately 4 million individuals have now signed up for healthcare plans under the newly created Obamacare insurance exchanges, asenior administration official told The Huffington Post on Tuesday.

The numbers mean that roughly 700,000 people have signed up for health care plans since the end of January. And with five weeks before the enrollment period deadline at the end of March, they put the administration on pace to come close to the Congressional Budget Office's initial projection that 7 million
individuals would sign up for insurance coverage during the period.

"With individuals and families enrolling in coverage every day, we continue to see strong demand nationwide   from consumers who want access to quality, affordable coverage," reads a statement from the administration, passed in advance to The Huffington Post. "Consumers are shopping and enrolling in plans on HealthCare.gov every day; system error rates are low and response times are consistently less than half a
second. Our call center has handled more than 12 million calls so far and is open 24/7 to assist consumers in English, Spanish and more than 150 languages."

But with the good news remain some questions. The number of people who have signed up for plans and paid their first month's premium remains unknown, though insurers have suggested about 20 percent
of individuals have not paid. Moreover, it is unclear how many of those individuals who signed up in February were young and healthy -- the population demographic that the administration needs to ensure that the exchanges have a stable balance of healthy and sick consumers. A senior administration official said that a more detailed report about the enrollees would be released in mid-March.

Nevertheless, supporters of the law will cheer the news that 4 million people have now signed up for the Affordable Care Act, after having watched the botched launch in October in horror. Back then, it was unclear if the enrollment period would have to be delayed in order to accommodate the slow start. There
is little such talk today.

The new enrollment number does not include the millions of individuals who have signed up for Medicaid,
though it's not known how many of those individuals renewed their prior coverage or how many are new Medicaid recipients.

The news seems likely to get better for supporters of the law in the next month as well. With a looming enrollment deadline, the administration anticipates a rapid increase in people signing up for coverage. They also expect the number of young enrollees to rise rapidly. That was what happened when the state of Massachusetts implemented similar reform in 2007.

According to Bloomberg News:
"By November of that year, the last month to sign up to avoid a penalty, the portion of enrollees age 35 or younger had more than doubled to 36 percent from February, one analysis showed."

UPDATE:
6:28 p.m. -- This article has been updated to note that the enrollment number does not include people who have signed up for Medicaid.