Gov. Butch Otter says the $71.3 million in Millenium Fund money that's now being squirreled away as a hedge against future drops in the federal match for Medicaid is something he'd like the flexibility to spend starting in June, if it's not needed for Medicaid. "We don't anticipate getting the decision until June, so I'm hoping that the Legislature, when they address that $71 million for FMAP, will say, if we don't need to spend it that they'll then give me the flexibility of putting it into education, putting it into higher ed, putting it into corrections, or putting it someplace else in Health & Welfare," Otter told the Idaho Press Club this morning. It could go, he said, into "areas where we've had to cut." The governor said, "That's the kind of flexibility that they gave me last time." If the economy is starting to show signs of recovery by June, he said, he'd like to be able to spend that money.

---

---