���ϳԹ���

Each governor who spoke Tuesday — Christie, Walker and Indiana Gov. Mike Pence — outlined a few signature policy proposals designed to lead local news coverage: Pence called for a balanced budget amendment to the state constitution, to be ratified by voters in a future election. Walker proposed merging several state agencies together that he said duplicate work. Christie pushed for mandatory treatment programs for drug offenders. ... Pence stressed that he will never accept traditional Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act. “We have been saying ‘no’ to ObamaCare in Indiana, ‘no” to establishing a state-based exchange and ‘no’ to expanding a broken Medicaid system,” he said. “Medicaid is not a program we need to expand. It is a program we need to change.” (Hohmann, 1/13)

Mr. Christie, a potential 2016 Republican presidential candidate, touched on themes such as tax cuts, school choice, slowing Medicaid spending and reining in benefits for public workers. He spent a significant portion of the speech discussing drug addiction treatment, an issue that some conservatives support. (Haddon and Dawsey, 1/13)