Watch: Wacko Mich. Dem tries to physically stop Medicaid reform bill

A tense Michigan House battle over adding work requirements to Michigan's Medicaid program ended with the firing of a Democratic staffer after he tried to physically prevent the bill from leaving the chamber.

On Wednesday, Democratic legislative assistant Ryan Sebolt rushed to stop a state House clerk from leaving the chamber with the Medicaid work requirement bill, which had passed 62-47. He was captured on video.

The bill passed by the state House would impose work requirements on "able-bodied" Medicaid recipients in Michigan, which amounts to about 540,000 of the program's 662,913 enrollees, according to the Detroit News. Democrats loudly opposed the measure, and after the bill was handed off the roster for processing, Sebolt attempted to "bull rush" the staffer carrying the bill, Gideon D'Assandro, spokesman for House Speaker Tom Leonard, R-DeWitt, recounted for the media.

"There was a bunch of staff standing here," D'Assandro said. "He barreled through a couple of them, pushing them aside while running, charged up the first couple steps of the rostrum."

"He grabbed the clerk and pinned him up against the wall until the sergeant intervened and dragged him out," added D'Assandro, though MIRS reports Democrats decried this as a "gross mischaracterization of a dedicated staffer's attempt to salvage health care for hardworking Michiganders in the state."

Sebolt, who also serves as Ingram County's 2nd district county commissioner, has been fired.

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