Campaign
Update
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Inside This Issue:
TOMORROW, October 18th the House of Representatives is expected to vote on whether to override the President's veto of the bipartisan SCHIP reauthorization bill. Based on the House vote tally on the compromise bill, 25 Representatives must change their votes in order to override the veto.
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Call 1-800-828-0498, and tell your member of Congress to override President Bush's veto. Representatives listen to their constituents, so call TODAY – even if he/she already voted in support of the SCHIP reauthorization bill.
IMPORTANT: The following Representatives from California did NOT vote for the SCHIP reauthorization bill and have not indicated their intent to vote to override the veto. It is most critical to reach them ASAP. Please check to see if your Representative is on this list!
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Background:
On October 3rd, President Bush vetoed the bi-partisan SCHIP reauthorization bill that would have provided $35 billion in additional funding over the next five years via a 61-cent tobacco tax increase. This critical legislation would prevent children from losing their existing health care coverage and ensure that more children have access to affordable, comprehensive insurance.
Currently, SCHIP provides health coverage to over 6 million children nationwide– nearly 832,000 of whom live in California (through the Healthy Families Program). Without this additional funding, millions of children risk losing health care coverage and many more currently eligible, but unenrolled children will remain uninsured. We cannot allow our children to go without the vital health care they need to grow up healthy and strong!
Remember: call 1-800-828-0498 today, and tell your member of Congress to override President Bush's veto!
On Tuesday, October 9th, Governor Schwarzenegger released his health care reform proposal in legislative form. Healthcare reform negotiations between the Governor, Assembly Speaker Núñez, Senate President Pro-Tem Perata, and the Legislature are ongoing. It is important to underscore the urgency of keeping California's kids insured with our state's leaders. California cannot afford to move backwards on children's health!
We need to keep the pressure on the Governor and the legislature to ensure that, at the very least, before they leave town they enact statewide health insurance for all children. The legislature must not leave town while there are children in our state who are uninsured or at risk of losing the health care coverage so vital to their overall wellbeing and success!
WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Contact the Governor and your Legislators and urge them to act NOW to pass health care reform legislation that includes quality, comprehensive, affordable health coverage for EVERY child in California!
For more information, please contact Krystal Moreno Lee at klee@childrennow.org or 916-443-1680.
The 100% Campaign,
a collaborative effort of The Children's Partnership, Children Now
and Children's Defense Fund, 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