Alexandria, VA – Today, First Focus president Bruce Lesley commended the Senate Budget Committee for including $50 billion in new spending for the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) in its FY 2008 budget.
“SCHIP is a highly effective, cost-efficient program that serves millions of children in working families,” said Lesley. “By providing an additional $50 billion for SCHIP in the budget draft, the Senate Budget Committee took a positive step toward covering millions more children who SCHIP cannot reach under its current budget.”
First Focus has partnered with faith leaders and other children’s health advocates, as well as bipartisan coalitions in Congress, to call for a budget providing $60 billion in new spending for SCHIP reauthorization.
“This draft resolution sends a strong message that covering our nation’s uninsured children is a priority, but SCHIP needs $60 billion in new resources over five years to maintain current enrollment, reach all eligible children who are not enrolled, and build on the program’s decade of success. ” said Lesley.
The draft budget that serves as the starting point for today’s Senate budget debate includes $50 billion in new spending over five years for SCHIP reauthorization. The Senate Budget Committee is preparing to move a resolution to the floor as early as this week. The House Budget Committee is slated to mark up its budget resolution the week of March 19. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) has indicated that additional funding for SCHIP will be a priority in the House budget.
An analysis released today shows that the share of federal domestic spending on children has decreased significantly since 1960. That research, conducted by the Urban Institute with funding from First Focus and the Annie E. Casey Foundation, is available online athttp://www.firstfocus.net.