By a vote of 64-30, the Senate on Nov. 1 passed a revised version of H.R.3963, the Support for Injured Servicemembers Act, which included provisions to extend and expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. Similar to the bill vetoed by President Bush earlier this month, the legislation would expand SCHIP to cover 10 million children and increase spending on the program to $35 billion over five years. According to the Congressional Quarterly, Republicans oppose the bill partly because it would limit coverage to children in families with annual incomes below 300 percent of the federal poverty level; the GOP wants the program to cover only families at or below 200 percent of that level before covering families with higher incomes.
No Democrats opposed the measure, and 17 Republicans voted in favor of it. Presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y.; Chris Dodd, D-Conn.; John McCain, R-Ariz.; and Barack Obama, D-Ill., did not vote.
