Republican Rep. T.J. Shope started out as a blank slate on Medicaid expansion, with no opinion on the governor’s proposal and no substantial background knowledge of the issue.

But after hearing the strong economic arguments for expanding Medicaid to cover people at or below 133 percent of the federal poverty level, and gathering his own information about the pros and cons of the issue, he has started leaning toward expansion.

“I think at the beginning I was strictly on the fence, I didn’t even have a leaning in one direction or another. And as time has gone on and more information has come out, I think that the decision is becoming a little bit clearer,” he said.

But Shope is careful to note he hasn’t totally committed to the plan yet, and is waiting to see if any other viable options emerge – ones that don’t drain the rainy day fund or the budget surplus. But so far, he hasn’t seen anything that fits.

Republican activists have been hounding him to oppose expansion, citing the ballooning federal debt, general opposition to “Obamacare” and a host of other reasons.

But Shope said that while Medicaid expansion opponents are a vocal part of the GOP, and his own Pinal County Republican Party passed a resolution expressing their opposition to expansion, there are many solid Republicans who see the benefit of expansion.

While he is concerned about the federal deficit and what Obamacare will mean for the federal budget, as a state lawmaker, Shope, of Coolidge, said he has to do what is best for Arizona.

One of the primary factors on Shope’s mind is the impact that not expanding the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System will have on hospitals in the rural parts of the state, where he is from.

“(The hospitals) employ a lot of people in my district and around the state,” Shope said. “You’re talking about a lot of jobs that are at stake.”

He said there was a “triple-whammy” of information that came out all within one week in April that swayed him closer to the “yes column” on expansion.

The first one came in an editorial by former Gov. Fife Symington that blasted “Obamacare” and championed Brewer’s decision to join the legal fight against the law, but stated that now that Obamacare is the law of the land, Brewer is right in deciding to accept federal funds that go along with AHCCCS expansion.

Symington wrote: “As of now, no one knows what the outcome of Obamacare is going to be. The entire thing may well fail. If it does, Arizona will be better off for having accepted the federal funding in the meanwhile.”

The next information that moved Shope closer toward expansion were guidelines from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services that clarified Arizona will not be able to continue receiving the same federal funding match to maintain the enrollment freeze on coverage for childless adults in the AHCCCS system.

Shope said the response confirmed that maintaining the status quo was not an option, and the state would have to deal with AHCCCS expansion one way or another.

Finally, Shope was swayed by an editorial by Kevin McCarthy, president of the Arizona Tax Research Association, arguing that Medicaid expansion is the best economic option for Arizona given the current legal framework and the limited other options left to the state.

Another option being debated by Republicans in the Legislature is sending the governor’s proposal to the ballot, thus dodging the political heat that will come from voting to expand Medicaid. Shope said that while he isn’t totally opposed to letting the voters of Arizona decide what is best, the logistics are difficult.

Brewer and Senate President Andy Biggs are staunchly opposed to putting the question to the ballot, and the idea hasn’t gained much traction among rank and file lawmakers, either.

Plus, Shope thinks voters elected their lawmakers to decide the issue themselves.

“You hear it all the time when you’re out in public, people say ‘There are 15 things on the ballot. Can’t you guys figure this out yourselves?’” he said.