Today the U.S. Senate voted down an amendment to H.R. 4213—the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act of 2010—that would have tacked on a six-month extension to the Federal Medical Assistance Percentage (FMAP) funding, $480 million of which state Democrats depended on when they wrote their budget last session.

FMAP is a percent of a state's Medicaid spending which the federal government reimburses. Senators Murray and Cantwell (D-WA) both voted for the amendment; here's the roll call.

Governor Gregoire has said that if the FMAP funding doesn't come through, she'd call for a special session of the state legislature so it could figure out a way to close the new $480 million budget deficit.

The chances of Washington state receiving that money still aren't dead, however, said Gregoire's spokeswoman, Karina Shagren.



Today's 45-52 vote was procedural, U.S. Senators still have time to go back and rework the amendment and another vote won't likely come before next week, she said. Today's defeat, however, does not bode well for the amendment's chances next week.

Shagren also hedged Gregoire's prior statement about calling a special session today, saying "she has mentioned it as a possibility, but it's not a done deal." A special session would partly depend on the state's newest revenue forecast, which comes out tomorrow. If that forecast closes the $480 million gap, no special session would be needed.

If the forecast isn't sunny, the FMAP money doesn't come and Gregoire calls for a special session, however, the most severe impacts could be felt in the election of 2010.

Imagine it: the campaign season is starting to heat up with many newcomers across the state giving incumbents (Democrats, mostly) their first real challenge, and suddenly they've got to legally cease all campaigning, go back to Olympia—likely amidst a fair amount of public scrutiny and embarrassment—and re-patch that damn budget.