On Wednesday, October 3, President Bush vetoed legislation reauthorizing the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The bill would have added $35 billion to SCHIP over the next five years and would have funded health insurance for about 10 million children compared to the 6.6 million covered under the program today.

The House of Representatives has scheduled a veto override vote for October 18. During the next two weeks, supporters of the bill will be lobbying House members who voted against the bill initially to commit to voting to override the President’s veto.

The bill passed the Senate with enough votes to override the veto, but the House must pass its override measure before the Senate can hold an override vote. If the House fails to override the veto, the issue will be moot.

In anticipation of the President’s veto, Congress passed stopgap legislation continuing existing funding for SCHIP through mid-November, so most states, including Texas, will not face any immediate funding or enrollment crisis as a result of the President’s veto as long as Congress and the administration are able to craft and pass a new reauthorization bill quickly. If the renegotiation process is drawn out, more and more states will come to the end of their SCHIP funding. Under the continuing resolution, no new children are covered beyond the number covered today.

What Should Advocates Do?

With two weeks to go before the House override vote, members of Congress are being lobbied intensely. If your representative voted for SCHIP reauthorization, please take a minute to thank them and encourage them to support the veto override.

If your representative did not support the reauthorization bill, please contact them and ask them to support the veto override.

Find contact information including district office information for members of the Texas congressional delegation

Find out how your congressional representative voted on the SCHIP bill the President vetoed

Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison voted for reauthorization. Senator John Cornyn voted against the bill.

Click here to read the Center for Public Policy Priorities’ statement about Senator Cornyn’s opposition to reauthorization

Some opponents of the reauthorization bill have promulgated misinformation that is causing genuine confusion for lawmakers and the public. It’s especially important to make sure your representative has the facts, including facts about how the bill would impact Texas.

SCHIP “Claims versus Truth”

Talking points for your conversation with your congressional representative (MS Word document)