Health

The passage of House Bill 2292, during the last legislative session, resulted in cuts of state and federal funds to the tune of $2,274,705,684 statewide and $15,786,000 from Williamson County alone.  These cuts included not only the well known Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) but also services provided under Medicaid for maternity care, nursing home residents, and community care for the aged and disabled.  My opponent voted for this bill on April 28, 2003 and was absent from the final vote on June 1, 2003 http://www.cppp.org/new/11 03 Update County Impact of Medicaid and CHIP Cuts.xls

Due to overwhelming public outrage and pressure, 1.5 billion of these cuts have recently been restored, but not the CHIP’s funding. If the state would restore the 200 million for CHIP, the federal government would match it with 518 million.  They decided to put our 200 million into a rainy day fund instead (‘State Refuses to Cover Teacher Fees’, Mike Ward, Austin American Statesman, August 24, 2004)

Children who were not pushed out of CHIP still lost their dental, vision, hospice, and some mental-health services under the legislation passed last year http://www.tft.org/legis/archive2.cfm?hotid=521 

HB 2292 will also close over 200 local walk-in centers for Texas Department of Human Services, losing many local jobs. They plan on privatizing their jobs and creating long-distance call centers instead of convenient local offices.  According to the Center for Public Policy Priorities, “The reorganization model also proposes drastic reductions in the human services workforce despite several indicators that there are not enough workers now to manage the workload in these programs.” http://www.cppp.org/products/media/pressreleases/PR4-28-04.html 

Texas ranks 48^th in $ per child on child protective services. And workloads for CPS staff are the highest in the nation http://www.cppp.org/LAR_DPFS.pdf More than 500 children in Texas died of abuse or neglect over a 2 ½-year
period, and more than a quarter of them had been previously investigated by the state's Child Protective Services, according to records obtained by The Dallas Morning News. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/092204dnmetabusedeaths.5d6cc.html

 More than 500 children in Texas died of abuse or neglect over a 2 ½-year period, and more than a quarter of them had been previously investigated by the state's Child Protective Services, according to records obtained by The Dallas Morning News.  “The state's 780 child abuse investigators handle an average of more than 50 cases a month. National groups have recommended a maximum of 15 to 18 cases.” 

      http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/092204dnmetabusedeaths.5d6cc.html  

To read more about how these cuts are affecting Texans, look at: ‘Truth and Consequences, The State Budget for 2004-2005 and Its Impact on Texans’, Center for Public Policy Priorities, June 2004  http://www.cppp.org/products/reports/budget-impact04/index.html

Education    Health    Toll Roads    Taxes    Bio

Press    Endorsements    Contribute    Calendar    Home