A key Republican voice was raised Wednesday in support of a state rescue for the safety-net hospitals that stand to be big losers because of Gov. Tim Pawlenty's elimination of a health care program for the very poor.

Hennepin County Commissioner Jeff Johnson, a former legislator and GOP candidate for attorney general, wrote on his Hennepin County Taxpayer Watchdog blog that Hennepin County Medical Center and Hennepin taxpayers will be unfairly socked by the consequences of allowing the program called General Assistance Medical Care (GAMC) to disappear. HCMC will be out $43 million this year if GAMC disappears as scheduled on April 1, he said; a county property tax increase will make up only $18 million of that loss.

"One basic function of government (at least in my opinion) is to provide help to those who are most vulnerable in our society -- including the physically and developmentally disabled and the mentally ill. It should not, however, fall on the backs of the Hennepin County taxpayer to support that function of government for the entire state," Johnson wrote.

He had mild praise for efforts by DFL Sen. Linda Berglin of Minneapolis and GOP Rep. Matt Dean of Stillwater to cobble together a partial replacement for the program. "And there's always that crazy concept of funding this priority by cutting something else that's less important," Johnson allowed.

Berglin's revised plan hangs under a Pawlenty veto threat; the House version of her bill is due for floor debate Thursday. The governor said Monday that he deemed that effort lacking in sufficient cost-containing measures, such as reduced eligibility. The program is only available to people whose incomes are less than $7,800 per year. Many of them suffer from chronic illnesses that make them unable to work. A question for Pawlenty: How much poorer does a Minnesotan have to be, to be seen as unable to bear medical bills alone?