Tax News

CCH (cch.taxgroup.com) reports:

The Senate by a vote of 67 to 29 on September 27 passed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2007 (HR 976), which President Bush has pledged to veto. The bill passed the House on September 25 (TAXDAY, 2007/09/27, C.4). The bill would add $35 billion to the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) over five years --for a total of $60 billion. The additional funding would be raised by a 61-cent increase in the federal tax on cigarettes and tax increases on other tobacco products, including cigars and pipe tobacco. SCHIP insures children whose parents do not qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford private insurance.
Bush in a written statement urged Congress to send him a continuing resolution extending the SCHIP program through November 16. During the evening on September 27, the Senate by a vote of 94 to 1 passed HJRes 52, a continuing appropriations bill that would fund federal government operations through November 16 and contains the temporary SCHIP extension. The House passed the measure on September 26 (TAXDAY, 2007/09/27, C.2). "We should take this time to arrive at a more rational, bipartisan SCHIP reauthorization bill that focuses on children in poor families who don't currently have insurance, rather than raising taxes to cover people who already have private insurance," the president said.
By Paula Cruickshank, CCH News Staff