Early in the legislative process for children's health insurance, Bush backed a plan to limit health insurance to pre-teen children. Why? "So that young girls wouldn't be eligible for family planning assistance and that the Governor's opponents could not use that in the primary states." (George Strong) "Out of the roughly 500,000 who the program should cover, only 28,000 [have been enrolled]. Other states have been up and running for a long time. We're turning back money to the federal government." (Glen Maxey) While Bush claims the Feds should give money back to the states in the form of tax cuts, the governor gives money back to the Feds in the form of unused revenue for kid's health insurance, suggesting it's really not which way the money is going, it's who gets it.--Politex

"A legislative probe is under way to find out if state health officials had planned to spend money mandated for poor children's health care on a renovation of their own offices instead, the Houston Chronicle has learned." 6/29..."Records obtained under the Texas Public Information Act show the Health Department failed to distribute nearly $607,000 for up to five school health clinics during the current budget year ending Aug. 31. Money for the clinics comes from federal funds dedicated to health care programs for women and children," the Houston Chronicle has learned. "The school clinic issue erupted during 1999 budget hearings after legislators discovered Texas Health Commissioner Dr. William "Reyn" Archer had plans to shift money away from school clinics .... The school -based clinics have long been a hot-button issue among social conservatives who fear the clinics will refer children to family planning clinics.... Texas has one of the highest rates of uninsured children in the nation. The ranking has been used against Gov. George W. Bush during the presidential campaign. Bush strongly favored the 1997 appointment of Archer, the son of retiring House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Archer, R-Houston." 6/6

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