March 9, 2007
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The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
U.S. Senate
S-220 Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
H-232, U.S. Capitol
Washington, D.C. 20515
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The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader
U.S. Senate
S-230 Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
The Honorable John Boehner
Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
H-204 Capitol Building
Washington, D.C. 20515
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Re: FY 2007 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program
Dear Senator Reid, Senator McConnell, Speaker Pelosi and Representative Boehner:
In the coming weeks you will consider legislation to provide emergency supplemental appropriations for FY 2007. On behalf of the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) we urge you to provide sufficient funds in this legislation to avert the FY 2007 funding shortfall for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
The provisions of P.L. 109-482, provided temporary relief from the looming shortfall, but that relief is likely to expire on or before May 4, 2007. At least one state has already begun administrative procedures to scale back SCHIP because of the shortfall. We firmly believe that no SCHIP beneficiary should lose coverage in FY 2007 due to this funding shortfall.
As you know, the authorization for this popular and extremely effective program expires at the end of this fiscal year. We urge you to move quickly to reauthorize this program and to ensure that through the reauthorization process: (1) sufficient funding is provided to allow growth in the program, including provisions for medical inflation; (2) state flexibility is maintained; and (3) all states are treated equitably.
We look forward to working with you on both the FY 2007 shortfall and the SCHIP reauthorization in the coming weeks and hope that you will contact us if we can be of assistance to you on this or other issues of mutual interest.
Sincerely,
Senator Leticia Van de Putte Representative Donna Stone
Texas State Senate Delaware General Assembly
President, NCSL President-elect, NCSL
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