HM 23C

1	House Memorial
2	A memorial to the Congress of the United States urging
3	Congress to override President Bush's veto of the State
4	Children's Health Insurance Program to ensure federal
5	funding for the Florida Kidcare program.
6
7	WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of Florida regards
8	the health of children to be of paramount importance to families
9	in the state, and
10	WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of Florida regards
11	poor child health as a threat to the educational achievement and
12	social and psychological well-being of the children of the State
13	of Florida, and
14	WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of Florida considers
15	protecting the health of children to be essential to the well-
16	being of Florida's youngest citizens and the quality of life in
17	the state, and
18	WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of Florida considers
19	the Florida Kidcare program, which was created in 1998 and
20	currently has 1,374,569 children enrolled in the program, to be
21	an integral part of the arrangements for health benefits for the
22	children of the State of Florida, and
23	WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of Florida recognizes
24	the value of the Florida Kidcare program in preserving child
25	wellness, preventing and treating childhood disease, improving
26	health outcomes, and reducing overall health costs, and
27	WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of Florida considers
28	the federal funding available for the Florida Kidcare program to
29	be indispensable to providing health benefits for children of
30	modest means, and
31	WHEREAS, estimates indicate that the State of Florida has
32	over 700,000 uninsured children, the second-highest percentage
33	of uninsured children in the nation, and
34	WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of Florida sent a
35	memorial to the Congress of the United States during the 2007
36	Legislative Session urging Congress to reauthorize the State
37	Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), and
38	WHEREAS, the Congress of the United States recently passed
39	bipartisan legislation reauthorizing SCHIP, NOW, THEREFORE,
40
41	Be It Resolved by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
42
43	That the Legislature urges the Congress of the United
44	States to ensure that the congressional reauthorization of the
45	State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), which will
46	continue to provide federal funding for the Florida Kidcare
47	program and allow the State of Florida to cover additional
48	uninsured children, is enacted into law by overriding President
49	Bush's veto of the bipartisan SCHIP legislation recently passed
50	by the Congress of the United States.
51	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature urges the
52	Governor to work with the Florida delegation to the United
53	States Congress to ensure that the State Children's Health
54	Insurance Program is reauthorized by overriding President Bush's
55	veto of the bipartisan SCHIP legislation.
56	BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
57	dispatched to the President of the United States, to the
58	President of the United States Senate, to the Speaker of the
59	United States House of Representatives, and to each member of
60	the Florida delegation to the United States Congress.

CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.