|
|
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
|
State Rep. Jesse White |
|
TO: Editor, PA Focus
From: State Rep. Jesse White, D-Washington/Allegheny/Beaver
RE: SCHIP
Playing politics with a SCHIP on their shoulder
Every now and again, I experience moments of complete and utter disbelief with our legislative process. This past week, I had such a moment on the floor of the state House of Representatives.
On the agenda was House Resolution 447, which was “A Resolution to condemn the veto by the President of the United States in connection with the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2007 and urge Congress to override it.”
For those who don’t know, the SCHIP program covers about 6 million children whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but can’t afford private health insurance (Medicaid is the federally funded program providing health care for the poor. A bill that would have dramatically expanded the program to cover 10 million additional children was passed by Congress but recently vetoed by President Bush.
In the state House, we vote on resolutions all the time. Sometimes we introduce them for groups within our districts or to raise awareness of a certain issue. Resolutions can also be used to honor the memory of Pennsylvanians who have lost their lives in the military or during other public service. Any representative can sponsor a resolution, which is usually voted on quickly and painlessly. On the day in question, we had voted on seven previous resolutions prior to H.R. 447.
The purpose of H.R. 447 was to let the Pennsylvania Congressional Delegation and the president know that we wanted the expansion of the SCHIP program and urge an override of the veto. This put my Republican colleagues in a bit of a sticky wicket; if they voted for the resolution, they would be going against their party, but if they voted against the resolution, they would be saying that they were against expanded health care for children. Politically speaking, that’s a tough choice.
So instead of simply putting up the vote, we were forced to sit for nearly four hours as Republican members pulled out every parliamentary trick they could imagine to prevent a vote. They tried to amend the resolution. They tried to divide the amendment. They tried to table the resolution. They appealed the ruling of the Speaker of the House. They left no stone unturned to avoid making this vote.
But the ridiculous became the sublime when a Republican colleague stood up and asked in an exasperated tone whether or not we were going to vote on any ‘real’ legislation instead of wasting the valuable time of Pennsylvanians, a question which was roundly met with applause by many of the other Republican members. It would have been a valid question if they hadn’t been the ones jamming up the works for four hours!
Moments like that one simply defy common sense and leave you wondering if anything of any importance will ever get done. There is nothing more frustrating in this job than watching political grandstanding and posturing stand in the way of actual progress, but it unfortunately happens more often than I had ever imagined before I got to Harrisburg.
###