Bishop one on one

A Q&A with Rep. Mike Bishop

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Following his townhall meetings, U.S. Rep. Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, sat down with Todd Heywood to answer a few questions about national and political concerns. The following has been edited for clarity and space.

It was announced that the two warring factions of the congressional GOP caucus — the Freedom Caucus and more moderate Republicans — had agreed on a deal to move the healthcare reform forward. One part of that agreement was to slash Medicaid reimbursements. Are you OK with that?

I've not seen it yet. I am on the authorizing committee, so we'll see that before it becomes a floor discussion. That's clearly something that's a concern of mine. The devil's in the details.

Gov. Snyder has said the Medicaid expansion has been a huge boon for the state. Will you protect the Medicaid expansion?

The Medicaid expansion will be protected because that's part of the solution. Those that are currently eligible for Medicaid including the expansion will not be impacted by this. That's that's the solution. Gov. Snyder and all the governors need all the help they can get in controlling the costs of Medicaid. Medicaid is the fastest growing line out of any state budget.

Former Congressman Mike Rogers had an office in Lansing. Why haven’t you opened one in the city?

The Lansing office is at the far end of the district. This goes under no good deed goes unpunished. We actually changed the location of the office to accommodate the district because it's right now actually in the center of the district. But that doesn't mean that we don't go on the road. I'm constantly on the road and constantly in Ingham County for issues that might arise. I’m meeting with people.

What are you doing to make sure that we get funding in the state of Michigan to fix our infrastructure?

There's is a clear intention on the part of this administration to bring a proposal forward on the infrastructure. It's something that we need to have a very serious discussion about. I'll do whatever I can to try to support the cause.

One of the other things that you heard over and over today was Russia and the Trump connection. What I didn't hear you answer, and I heard it asked a couple of times, is: Do you believe that the Trump administration or his campaign workers were involved with the Russia situation?

I don't at all. In fact, I've not seen any evidence that would support that. I know there are all kinds of allegations out there and I know there are several committees, bipartisan committees, that are working on that investigation. If I thought that I would be acting differently. I would treat this differently.

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