When I talked to Joel Briscoe, he was in the middle of work.

I'm in the Utah State Capitol right now, up on the hill overlooking Salt Lake City.

He's a state representative, a Democrat from District 25.

I'm going to get by a window, swear the reception.

Representative Briscoe has worked in the state capital for nearly a decade, and he's been trying to convince his colleagues to expand health care access for most of that time.

A couple months back, he thought the voters had figured out just a little piece of the state's health care puzzle.

Utah approved this ballot initiative called Proposition

3. It expanded Medicaid. It even set aside tax revenue to pay for it.

Some heated moments on Utah's Capitol Hill today as the House takes up a bill to modify

Proposition 3 to expand Medicaid here in our state. But then a couple weeks back, the legislature

voted to undo that proposition.

They drastically shrunk the number of people who'd be eligible for Medicaid, in spite of the voters.

Emotions run high outside the House chamber as Senate Bill 96 is being debated.

There were pastors singing hymns at the Capitol that day.

A protester unfurled a banner and yelled at the lawmakers.

And while all this was going on, Representative Briscoe got up on the floor of the House and made a speech.

Representative Briscoe.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Representative Briscoe likes to wear a tie with Harry Truman on it, to remind people that

government's job is to solve big problems.

His speech was kind of a lament.

Why don't we do the simple thing?

Why do we do something that people voted for and implement Medicaid expansion.

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