Governor Perry Threatens to Veto CHIP

Today, Governor Perry threatened to veto legislation that would create a buy-in program for the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

It is unconscionable, in these tough economic times, that Governor Perry will veto legislation that will help working Texas parents purchase insurance for their children. Legislation creating a buy-in program for CHIP passed last night with a 29-2 vote in the Senate, and it passed last month from the House with a vote of 87-55. This bill was specifically written with the strictest "crowd out" language possible to ensure that private health insurance is not substituted by CHIP coverage. The Governor is clearly out of touch with the needs of Texas.

For your information, I have included an article posted in the Houston Chronicle from the Associated Press that details the Governor's opposition to a program that would help insure an estimated 80,000 children.

Perry opposes CHIP expansion plan

By JIM VERTUNO Associated Press Writer © 2009 The Associated Press

May 28, 2009, 4:17PM

AUSTIN, Texas — Gov. Rick Perry says he doesn't support a Senate plan to get up to 80,000 more children into the government-subsidized Children's Health Insurance Program, indicating he'll veto the measure if it gets to his desk.

The Senate resurrected the plan late Wednesday. The legislative session ends Monday.

Speaking with reporters Thursday, Perry was asked if he'd consider adding expanding CHIP to a possible special session. Perry has warned lawmakers he may call them back to Austin if they don't restore Texas' depleted windstorm insurance fund and could add CHIP to the agenda if he wanted.

"No. I would probably not be in favor of that expansion even if it came to my desk. I think the members know that," Perry said. "That is not what I consider to be a piece of legislation that has the vast support of the people of the state of Texas."

The Republican governor's comments may doom the plan from getting much further if lawmakers presume he'd veto anything they send him.

Currently only families making less than twice the federal poverty level — around $44,100 for a family of four — are eligible for the joint federal and state health care program.

The Senate plan allows families making up to 300 percent of the poverty level to get into the program by paying a share of the cost. Some families making more than that would be able to fully buy into the program.

Supporters of the expansion — including child advocates, business groups and doctors — say families who don't qualify and can't get coverage elsewhere are forced to get divorced or quit their jobs to get CHIP coverage for their children.

Opponents say the current level of coverage ensures that only those who truly need coverage get it. They believe families would drop private plans for the government one.

Update on Eminent Domain Legislation

This session, I filed HB 3709 to protect threatened Houston neighborhoods by preventing the Texas Medical Center, Inc., a private non-profit corporation with no public oversight or accountability, from using their power of eminent domain on residential property.

I'm happy to inform you that the language of my legislation was amended to SB 18, a larger eminent domain bill, and is schedule to be up for consideration in the House tomorrow. Below, I have included an editorial from the Houston Chronicle detailing the TMC Inc.'s power of eminent domain.

Too powerful

The Texas Medical Center shouldn’t be able to condemn Houstonians’ houses

Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle

Why does the Texas Medical Center possess eminent domain, one of the bluntest instruments of raw government power?

In the 1940s, when state legislators granted its charter, they probably didn’t envision the nonprofit corporation seizing houses or busting neighborhoods. The Texas Medical Center, Inc., was established to provide land and infrastructure for the not-for-profit hospitals, educational institutions and research groups that we now think of as “the Medical Center.” And it’s carried out that mission well: Those institutions — a multi-billion-dollar pillar of the Houston economy — now occupy an urban cluster bigger than many cities’ downtowns.

Maybe that’s why many of us think of the Texas Medical Center not as a corporation, but as a city. (About ten years ago, TMC encouraged that confusion by dropping the “Inc.” from its name.) And in some ways, TMC does behave like a city — or at least like an enormous office park. It charges its member institutions an annual assessment fee, and it provides them with things such as nicely paved streets, landscaping, electricity and chilled water. It does long-term planning for the area.

(Frankly, its planning is much more detailed and comprehensive than many cities’, including Houston’s.) And it lobbies for improvements in areas such as freeway exits and flood control.

But TMC is a corporation, not a city. It’s not a government or even a quasi-government. Its board members aren’t elected by the public, and they’re not appointed by elected officials. The corporation’s meetings are closed; its secrets, tightly guarded. It’s run less like a democracy than a kingdom.

Lately, the kingdom has made incursions into Central City, a quiet little neighborhood next to TMC’s John P. McGovern campus. On Lockett Street, the campus’s 500-car garage sits atop several lots that used to hold houses.

TMC has used its eminent domain powers, in their simplest form, to condemn one Lockett Street house outright. Both the neighborhood and TMC agree that the abandoned house had attracted crack addicts. TMC considered it dangerous to employees.

But TMC’s use of eminent domain wasn’t limited to that house. It also negotiated to buy 15 other houses on Lockett Street, each time requiring the seller to sign papers saying that the property had been condemned through eminent domain. That legal maneuver extinguished the neighborhood’s deed restrictions and allowed TMC to build whatever it liked.

(It’s no wonder TMC wanted that 500-car garage. In 2007, TMC’s various parking garages brought in $57 million — more than half the corporation’s total revenue.)

For the sake of argument, let’s say that the public need for TMC’s cash-generating parking garage should have overridden Central City’s interest in remaining residential. But if so, shouldn’t that decision have been made in the open? By elected representatives? Or by people who answer to elected representatives? Or at least not behind closed doors?

TMC forcefully denies that it intends to expand into other residential neighborhoods. But given the example of Central City, TMC’s neighbors — places such as Southgate, Southampton, Riverside and the Third Ward — worry that their deed restrictions could be the next to fall.

We support Rep. Garnet Coleman’s effort to remove TMC’s eminent-domain power over residential neighborhoods. (Coleman’s original bill, H.B. 3709, has been rewritten as an amendment to a larger eminent-domain bill, S.B. 18, now under consideration in the Texas Legislature.) TMC would retain its ability to condemn commercial properties — which is still an extraordinary power for a corporation to possess.

With that in mind, we hope that in a future session the Legislature will consider changing the organization’s charter, and require TMC to open its meetings and its records to the public. If a nonprofit is going to wield a governmental power, it ought to behave more like a government.

Helping Parents Make Healthy Decisions for their Children

A few weeks ago, I successfully amended HB 1672 to include mandatory screening of newborns for sickle-cell trait. I am happy to inform you that this bill has passed both the House and Senate, and will make its way to the Governor's desk shortly.

Texas families will greatly benefit from requiring the screening of newborns for sickle-cell trait. Although the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) already screens for this trait, codifying this agency rule and putting it into statute would provide great benefit to the children of Texas. Children who are financially eligible will be referred for services available to kids with special health care needs. Additionally, people who receive a positive test for sickle cell trait and meet certain criteria will also be eligible for certain services by the department. My amendment will also safeguard the health of Texas children by allowing DSHS to screen for other disorders they deem necessary, without having to continuously come to the Legislature for further statutory amendments.

Parents need to be informed if their child is a sickle cell trait carrier because of the additional health risks associated with the trait. Individuals with the trait require extra oxygen during anesthesia and surgical operations, and are cautioned against participating in activities at high or low altitudes. A person unaware of his or her sickle cell trait carrier status may pass the trait to their child, if the person conceives with another sickle cell trait carrier. This screening will not require any DNA tests that would require additional funding. Screening for sickle cell trait will allow parents to make healthy decisions for their children.

CHIP and Medicaid Bill Finally Passes out of the House

As one of the original authors of the Texas Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), I am thrilled to inform you that moments ago, the House passed HB 2962, which will increase enrollment in and public awareness of CHIP.

This legislation is a collaborative, bipartisan effort that will insure an estimated 80,000 Texas children. This bill will help the neediest children first by targeting those currently eligible but not enrolled through outreach and application assistance.

HB 2962 will implement a sliding scale to cover uninsured kids with working parents earning from 200 to 300 percent of the federal poverty level. Families covered under these provisions will have to pay co-payments and monthly premiums, and will contribute more than the state to the CHIP buy-in created in this bill. Strict anti-crowd out provisions in this bill ensure that private health insurance is not substituted by CHIP coverage.

The bill also includes a full cost buy-in option, at no cost to the state, for children from families earning from 300 to 400 percent of the federal poverty level, who were previously enrolled but lost coverage due to an increase in income.

HB 2962 also excludes child support payments and assets in college savings plans from being considered when determining eligibility for programs like CHIP and Medicaid. This will encourage families to invest in the future of their children's education without fear that their investment will cause them to lose their health care.

I want to thank Chairman Patrick Rose and the members of the Human Services Committee, Speaker Sylvester Turner, and the joint-authors of this legislation - Reps. Dawnna Dukes, John Zerwas, John Davis, and Elliott Naishtat - for their tireless work and dedication in making this possible.

I regret that at this time, we could not include annual Medicaid eligibility since there is no money appropriated for this provision.

I will keep you updated on this bill as it makes its way to conference committee.

House Passes Bill that Gives Houston Voters Option to Extend Term Limits

Moments ago, the Texas House passed legislation that will give Houston voters the choice to make their city government more effective and better suited to meet their needs. HB 3006 would let Houstonians decide if they wish to expand term limits in Houston from the current three two-year terms, to either six two-year terms or three four-year terms, through a proposition on the November 2010 ballot.

Existing term limits keep Houston City Council Members from gaining necessary legislative experience. Short term limits force out members almost as soon as they learn the legislative process, and deter qualified candidates from seeking office on the city council. Additionally, current term limits favor executive power over legislative power. HB 3006 will give Houston voters the opportunity to equalize that power.

This legislation will not extend the terms of city officials currently in office. To the contrary, extending term limits will help diminish the power of incumbency. Houston City Council incumbents rarely face serious challenges because most candidates would rather wait for a seat to open.

Houston voters know which set of policies best suit their needs. HB 3006 simply gives these voters options. I will keep you updated on the progress of this legislation as it makes its way through the Senate.

Protecting Texas Children

The Texas House took steps to ensure the safety of Texas children by passing HB 3385 late Thursday. This bill, which was joint-authored by Representative Carl Isett, will protect our children by allowing Amber Alerts to be issued for children in danger of becoming victims of sexual assault. This legislation will also cover situations where a child under 14 is taken willingly, but without the permission of their parent or guardian, by a person who is more than 3 years older than the child and is not a relative.

Current criteria for issuance of an amber alert is sometimes too narrow to be issued for a child who is in real danger. A child who is willingly taken from the care and custody of their legal guardian may be in peril regardless of whether they meet the legal definition of an abductee.

Recently, officials in Tyler, TX were unable to issue an amber alert after a 23 year old convicted felon persuaded an 11-year old girl to go with him to Mexico. Children are vulnerable and oftentimes too trusting of adults. A child who is under the age of 14 cannot always gauge the danger and consequence of leaving with an adult with ill intentions.

State law must tread a delicate balance between overusing the Amber Alert system and not effectively operating the system to recover a child who is in real danger. However, since the statewide Amber Alert was fully implemented in 2002, only 42 alerts have been issued, of the 236 requested. HB 3385 will guarantee that Texas utilize resources already in place to ensure that children in danger safely return home.

The safety of our children has and will continue to be a priority. I will keep you updated on the passage of this bill as it moves through the Senate.