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Dems urge reversal on kids health bill

But GOP reps say they'll back veto

Chris Barge, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 16, 2007 at midnight

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U.S. Rep. Mark Udall and Gov. Bill Ritter, both Democrats, on Monday urged Colorado's three Republican House members to help override President Bush's veto of an expansion of a children's health program.

But Reps. Marilyn Musgrave, Doug Lamborn and Tom Tancredo said they would uphold Bush's veto of a bill to expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Udall called the override effort the most important domestic vote in Congress this year and said his colleagues have a "moral obligation" to expand SCHIP.

The GOP lawmakers held their ground, however.

"We're still not going to vote to override the veto, whether or not Ritter or Udall think it's a good idea," said Tancredo's spokesman, T.Q. Houlton. "We're not into increasing federal entitlements by 30 to 40 billion dollars."

Musgrave spokesman Aaron Johnson said the Loveland Republican opposes the House proposal to increase cigarette taxes to pay for expanding the program because that would amount to a tax on the poor.

He and Lamborn spokeswoman Kristen Heinen also said the expanded program would cover adults up to 25 years old and charged that it would extend benefits to illegal immigrants.

"This SCHIP bill isn't about children at all," Heinen said. "It's about putting politics ahead of children's interests."

House Democrats scheduled an override vote for today after Bush earlier this month vetoed legislation that would increase spending for SCHIP by $35 billion over five years. Bush has called for a $5 billion increase.

Ritter said a $5 billion increase would not even keep up with inflation. He called on the state's Republican representatives to listen to what 16 Republican governors have said in support of the broader expansion. He said he stands with 43 governors who support expanding the program.

An override requires a two- thirds majority in the House and Senate.

The Senate approved the increase by a veto-proof margin, but the earlier House vote fell about two dozen votes short.

The program provides health insurance to children in families with incomes too great for Medicaid eligibility but not enough to afford private insurance. Bush has said the bill is too costly.

It covers 56,000 young people in the state and 6.6 million nationwide. The state estimates that 180,000 children in Colorado are uninsured.

The bills now before Congress could bring Colorado approximately $618.3 million in new federal funding for children's health coverage over the next five years, three times the amount the state would have otherwise gotten for SCHIP, according to the Colorado SCHIP Coalition, a coalition of business and health care groups.

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