Revised State Children's Health Insurance (S-CHIP) Bill

October 26, 2007 - Revised State Children's Health Insurance (S-CHIP) Bill - The House passed a revised children's health proposal (H.R. 3963) Thursday (10/25/2007), but not by the two-thirds margin (265-142, 7-votes short). As with the already-vetoed bill, the revised measure would add would $35 billion over five years, financed by a 61-cent increase in the federal excise tax on a pack of cigarettes. This new version of the S-CHIP bill still contains all of the same tax increases on cigarettes, cigars, little cigars, pipe tobacco, smokeless tobacco and RYO tobacco products. Democratic leaders said they made changes to the bill regarding concerns about participation by adults, illegal immigrants and families able to afford health insurance. President Bush is willing to compromise and expand the SCHIP program by $20 billion over five years (the President originally wanted to limit the spending increase to $5 billion). But it was made clear that that the President continues to oppose an increase in cigarette and tobacco taxes to fund the expansion of the SCHIP program. If the new bill does not become law, Representative Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) is quoted by the CQ News Service as stating that another temporary SCHIP extension bill would be passed to continue the program possibly for a year until the fall of 2008. ( Federal Tobacco Tax Hike Possibility Still Lives House passes revised S-CHIP bill; another veto expected, CSP (Convenience Store and Petroleum) Daily News) See related news briefs: October 18, 2007 October 3, 2007 September 27, 2007 September 21, 2007 September 19, 2007 July 28, 2007 July 18, 2007 and July 9, 2007Click on image to enlarge..