CHIP: Sylvester Turner's last offer
House Speaker Pro Tem Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, is obtaining signatures of his chamber's negotiators on a version of the Children's Health Insurance Program bill that would subject only 9 percent of households to electronic income checking every six months -- not the 43 percent that the Senate favors.
"If they don't sign it," Mr. Turner said of the Senate's negotiators, "we just don't have a CHIP bill."
According to the Health and Human Services Commission, Mr. Turner's proposal would add nearly 128,000 youngsters to the rolls in the next two years; and the Senate's almost 102,000.
The Senate wants to let families submit paperwork every 12 months, but use data mining techniques to check the incomes every six months of families whose incomes are more than 150 percent of the federal poverty level. Mr. Turner says he'll accept the checks if the threshold is moved up to 185 percent of poverty; otherwise, he'd rather let the bill die than compromise further.
No word yet on the Senate's reaction to Mr. Turner's take it or leave it offer.
In another CHIP update, Willie Bennett of Dallas Area Interfaith says, "We're skeptical of the electronic checking." The faith-based group advocates social change and has strongly backed undoing the 2003 cuts to CHIP, which have reduced the rolls by nearly 40 percent. Mr. Bennett said he hopes the commission will heed a Senate colloquy between Senate author Kip Averitt, R-Waco, and Senate Democratic Caucus Chairwoman Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio.
Its upshot: Both senators agreed that the commission should work out any kinks before imposing the new system of electronic checks.
Said Mr. Bennett: "We want a bill that covers more children. We like the House version," which would add about 135,000 to CHIP.