FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
For Media Assistance

Sacramento, CA--According to statements made by legislative leaders yesterday, the California Legislature has failed to include funding assistance for local Children's Health Initiatives in this year's state budget. Children's Health Initiatives are county and regional programs that have been covering uninsured children throughout the state until a sustainable, statewide solution for children's health coverage is in place.

"We are disappointed that, in this year's budget process, a handful of legislators were able to block efforts to insure all children in California," said Deena Lahn, policy director for Children's Defense Fund California. "We missed an opportunity to support our local Children's Health Initiatives, programs that have demonstrated their effectiveness in expanding coverage to uninsured children and have contributed significantly to the enrollment of children who were previously eligible but not enrolled in Healthy Families and Medi-Cal."

While this year's budget does allocate funding for county-based outreach efforts and some improvements to ease families' enrollment and retention in existing public programs, the Legislature could not reach agreement on the proposed $23 million for Children's Health Initiatives, despite strong support from the Governor, businesses throughout the state, and countless other constituents. Unfortunately, a few legislators were able to hold up this important advance for children in our state. Recent public opinion polls reveal that more than 80 percent of Californians support health coverage programs for children.

Jim Keddy, director of PICO California, stated that, "Recent polls have shown that Californians overwhelmingly support efforts to expand health coverage for children.The new budget does not reflect the public's position on this issue; therefore, as children's advocates, we will remain vigilant in our pursuit of health coverage for every child in California."

While the Governor's revised budget contained funds to assist the local Children's Health Initiatives, legislators removed the proposal from the final recommended budget.

California must work to find sustainable, statewide solutions to provide health coverage for all children in California.These solutions could be reached through the passage of the Tobacco Tax Act of 2006, an initiative that recently qualified for the November 2006 general election ballot.

Keddy continued, "Our children look to us as advocates and leaders to care for them.With more than 800,000 children still uninsured in California, we can no longer afford to let our children's health care be a political tool--our kids deserve better than that."

The 100% Campaign, a collaborative effort of Children Now, Children's Defense Fund and The Children's Partnership, with primary funding from The California Endowment, was created to ensure that all of California's children obtain the health coverage they need to grow up strong and healthy.

The PICO California Project is the united effort of 20 California congregation-community organizations affiliated with the PICO National Network. Collectively, we represent 350 congregations and 400,000 families statewide and are actively organizing in over 70 cities in Northern and Southern California.