WASHINGTON – President Bush’s fiscal year 2008 budget proposal is out of touch with voters’ priorities for children and families, according to survey results released today by Georgetown University’s Center for Children and Families. As Congress prepares to reauthorize the State Children’s Health Insurance Program this year, the president’s budget misses an important opportunity to help states cover more children.
In an election-eve poll conducted by Lake Research Partners for CCF, 82 percent of American voters said that they would like to see Congress add new funds to SCHIP. Of these, two-thirds want to see Congress provide a funding level that allows states to cover even more children in SCHIP. In addition, 86 percent of voters want to invest more – not less – in Medicaid.