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Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

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Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

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Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Kids’ HealthCare Veto Upheld

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Friday, October 19, 2007   

St. Paul, MN – Six of Minnesota's eight members of Congress voted to overturn the President's veto of a children's health insurance program, as did a majority in the U.S. House on Thursday. However, they didn't reach the required two-thirds majority. One of those voting to overturn was Representative Tim Walz, who says the veto goes against one of the nation's most important priorities.

"This is a program that is an investment in saving us money. Preventive care for children, in the long run, is going to save this country, not only financially –- it's going to save us in terms of our most precious resource, which is our children."

The program covers low-income families who make too much to qualify for Medicaid, and would have extended health insurance coverage to an additional 10 million children. Budget analyst Steve Francisco, with the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits, says it's a cost-effective program and it should be renewed.

"The S-CHIP program was aimed at children who don't have insurance, who fall between eligibility for Medicaid and being able to purchase private insurance. When these children don't have insurance, we're going to see them showing up more frequently at emergency rooms, receiving more expensive health care and that's not a good way for us to be going."

The legislation would have covered 85,000 more Minnesota children. Minnesota Representatives Bachmann and Kline voted to sustain the President's veto; Francisco calls it "a shame" that children's health has become a political issue.

"We're losing about 2,000 children a day, who are becoming uninsured. So, this problem isn't going to get better by ignoring it. It's going to get worse. Congress and the President need to get back and pass the reauthorization of S-CHIP this fall."

President Bush didn't like the five-year, $35 billion price tag; he agreed to $5 billion. House leaders say they'll keep trying to reach an acceptable compromise.


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