RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — In pushing for a large scale expansion of Medicaid eligibility, Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe isn’t just up against House Republicans who are leery of supporting a key aspect of President Obama’s signature health care law. He’s also trying to upend the commonwealth’s long tradition of resistance to public aid.

Virginia state Sen. Charles J. Colgan, a Prince William County Democrat who was first elected nearly four decades ago, remembers former Gov. John Dalton voicing concerns in the late ’70s about the state’s growing Medicaid budget.