Campaign Update
Monday, November 27, 2006

Californians’ commitment to children’s health has not wavered, and neither has the determination of Californians for Healthy Kids. We are moving forward in 2007 to enact a statewide solution to insure all California children, and to secure sustainable financing for this system to launch immediately. As the first step in that effort, we are writing to the Governor to ask him to include the funding and policy for coverage of all kids in his January State of the State address and budget proposal.

Californians for Healthy Kids is asking all children’s health advocates, supporters and friends (you!) to send a letter to the Governor – preferably this week as the Administration is already developing the State of the State address and proposed budget. Feel free to contact Kelly Hardy at 510-763-2444 x 126 or khardy@childrennow.org for assistance.

Send your letter to:

The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor of California
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
Fax: 916-445-46331

You can use this sample letter as a starting point for your own personal message to the Governor.

Please send Californians for Healthy Kids a copy of every letter you send – via fax: 916-443-1204, email: acridge@childrennow.org, or mail: 1127 Eleventh St, Suite 452, Sacramento, CA 95814. Also, please encourage your colleagues, friends and family to write letters to the Governor as well!

While Governor Schwarzenegger’s Administration has taken some positive steps forward for children’s coverage, almost 800,000 kids remain uninsured. The need is urgent – some Children’s Health Initiatives that insure children through locally funded Healthy Kids programs are nearing the point where they will need to disenroll children, because funding from private sources is declining while an increasing number of children are applying for the programs. If the state does not act this year, children in these programs will begin to lose coverage.

2007 presents a particularly promising opportunity for children’s health coverage, not only because the community momentum around children’s health is at a high peak but also because policymakers plan to engage in comprehensive health reform.

The Governor has said – repeatedly and publicly – that he would provide health coverage for all uninsured children. In fact, the Sacramento Bee printed an article on November 13 identifying children’s health care as a top priority for the Governor and reminding readers that “Schwarzenegger has been pledging to find a way to cover the state’s 800,000 uninsured children since 2003.” With the recent failure to pass Proposition 86 – the tobacco tax initiative – the state still lacks a funding source for affordable health insurance access for all California children. The State of the State address and budget proposal represent a perfect opening for the Governor to fulfill this pledge and cover all kids.

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 insurance they need to grow up strong and healthy.
www.100percentcampaign.org

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.
www.picocalifornia.org