Activists Target Republican House Members on Child Health Veto Override

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.cqpolitics.com/2007/10/activists_target_republican_ho_1.html

By CQ Staff | 7:52 AM; Oct. 09, 2007 | Email This Article

By Drew Armstrong, CQ Staff

Supporters of a children’s health insurance bill will try to make a shortened workweek feel like a long one for House Republicans expected to vote against a veto override later this month.

A coalition of groups backing the bill (HR 976) scheduled a Monday launch of a weeklong television and radio ad campaign targeting 17 Republicans they see as potential swing votes on the veto.

In the Senate, meanwhile, a group of Republicans intends to promote an alternative bill in the likely event that President Bush’s Oct. 3 veto is sustained. Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has said Democrats will not compromise on the measure.

The administration made overtures to members last week to reach a compromise on a new bill, but were rebuffed. According to an aide to Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus, the Montana Democrat met with Michael O. Leavitt, the Health and Human Services secretary, on Oct. 3, but Baucus declined to negotiate.

Republicans who support the vetoed bill seem unlikely to flock to the GOP alternative. Sen. Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the ranking Republican on the Finance Committee and a leading advocate and cosponsor of the vetoed bill, voted against the proposal when it was offered as an amendment to the Senate version (S 1893) of the children’s health bill.

The vetoed legislation would expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by $35 billion over five years, to $60 billion. Democrats say it would provide health coverage to 10 million children, up from about 6 million now enrolled.

FULL story at link.