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JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) - Some supporters of a Medicaid expansion championed by President Barack Obama are also embracing a Republican alternative put forth in the Missouri House.

Among the witnesses testifying for the Republican plan Monday in a House committee were officials representing medical clinics, hospitals and business groups. Some of those same people have stood by Democrats in recent weeks as they embraced a proposed Medicaid expansion for lower-income adults.

But Missouri's Republican-led committees have repeatedly defeated the Medicaid expansion backed by Obama and Democrats.

The alternative by Republican Rep. Jay Barnes would cover fewer additional adults than Obama's version while also removing some children from the Medicaid rolls. Medicaid recipients would be covered through competitively bid managed care policies and could get cash incentives for holding down their health expenses.

CHICAGO (AP) - State officials have announced nearly $500 million in construction projects slated to begin soon.

The Illinois Department of Transportation released a list Monday of nearly 200 road and bridge projects. They include an interchange project on Chicago's Far South Side off Interstate 94. The state is investing $43 million in the project, which will repair, reconstruct and replace seven bridges. It will be completed in 2014.

Gov. Pat Quinn, Congressman Bobby Rush and state Sen. Donne Trotter were among the public officials who announced the projects Monday on the city's South Side.

The money comes from a capital construction program, Illinois Jobs Now!, and a supplemental appropriation lawmakers approved earlier this year.

The other projects include pedestrian structures, lots road resurfacing, bridge repair and road widening.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — The sponsor of a bill that would allow marijuana use for medical purposes says the measure is just "one or two" votes short of passage in the Illinois House.

State Rep. Lou Lang says he's close to getting the support he needs for the four-year pilot program. The Skokie Democrat's measure would allow patients with specific medical conditions to obtain marijuana.