Thread: WA:Gov pressures Hastings to vote to override veto SCHIPS

Governor pressures Hastings to vote to override veto
By LEAH BETH WARD
YAKIMA HERALD-REPUBLIC

Gov. Chris Gregoire appealed Wednesday to U.S. Rep. Doc Hastings of Pasco, the state's senior Republican congressman, to defy his own party and vote to override President Bush's controversial veto of expanded children's health insurance.

"I do realize the partisan pressures you must have to support the President, but on this issue, many Republican members of Congress have supported the bill the President has now vetoed. I ask that you do the same," Gregoire wrote.

Hastings couldn't immediately be reached for comment. But he has been firm in his opposition to an expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Plan, known by the acronym SCHIP.

In the Senate, 18 Republicans joined Democrats in passing the bill -- a large enough margin to override the veto. But House Democrats appear short of winning enough GOP support for an override, even though many business groups generally allied with the Republicans support the program expansion.

Although Hastings voted to re-authorize existing levels of funding for the program, he argues that an expansion will prompt families to drop private insurance and switch to the public program. In a statement he issued last week after the legislation passed the House, Hastings said Democrats were "pursuing a Canadian-style government-run health care system."

Gregoire took issue with that characterization in her letter, calling the legislation "anything but an entrée into a single-payer" government system. Instead, she said, it's a capped grant, "not an entitlement."

According to Gregoire, the need for expanded coverage is urgent in Hastings' 4th Congressional District. More than 15 percent of the state's 72,000 uninsured kids reside in his district.

The 2007 Washington Legislature expanded the state's contribution to the program to include middle-class families of four earning up to $62,000 a year. The coverage is not free, however, as most newly eligible families will pay a premium.


* Leah Beth Ward can be reached at 577-7626 or lward@yakimaherald.com.

http://www.yakima-herald.com/page/dis/289974848971027

I know CA is bad, but WA sure does have some bad politicians.

You can say that again realbsball, They are something else, sure don't know what those people in Wash are thinking when they vote.


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