Expand-Medicaid Measures Move in Four Right-Leaning States

A union-supported advocacy organization is pushing Medicaid expansion ballot measures in four conservative states as part of a larger political strategy.

The Medicaid expansion campaigns in Idaho, Montana, Nebraska and Utah have received substantial funding from The Fairness Project, a Washington, D.C., organization with national reach and strong ties to organized labor. In addition to direct funding, the project is helping coordinate social and conventional media outreach and giving strategic coaching for the on-the-ground campaigns.

The campaigns are citizen-led efforts to bypass legislatures and go straight to voters, who widely support full Affordable Care Act-scale Medicaid expansions, supporters say. The ...