Republican Defectors May Defeat Threatened Veto of S-CHIP Extension

House and Senate leaders are negotiating a compromise bill to extend and expand the S-CHIP program, which allows children in certain low-to-middle income families to enroll in Medicaid. (The popular program will expire in ten days without Congressional renewal.) The compromise bill reportedly would permit states to extend the program to families with incomes up to 300% of the federal poverty level, sufficient to permit Ohio to go ahead with the plans reflected in the recently passed state budget.

However, Bush reiterated the other day that he would veto the compromise bill, and called on Congress to instead pass a law that essentially extends the program with very little increase. The Senate version of the extension passed with a veto-proof bipartisan majority (it got 68 votes), but the House version did not (225-204). Thus, the question becomes whether enough additional GOP legislators will defect in order to defeat a veto.

Suddenly, the signs are looking good.

Read the rest of this post at my new location, Ohio Daily Blog.