(Austin)//--State Representative Garnet F. Coleman (D-Houston) expressed outrage at the Senate Finance Committee's decision to adopt a rider to their budget that would require any settlement payments for the Frew v. Hawkins Medicaid lawsuit to be paid within existing funds of the budget -- which would, by default, gut funding for Medicaid and CHIP services in Texas.

"The Senate has chosen to fund future property tax cuts over addressing a fifteen year-old liability," Rep. Coleman said. "The State has hidden from this problem for fifteen years. The Senate opened their eyes just so they could point a gun directly at children's health care in Texas."

Currently, there is approximately $9 billion in unspent funds in which the Senate could use to pay for coming in compliance with the Frew lawsuit. The Senate rider prohibits the use of any of those funds for Frew, and beyond that, would set aside an additional $3 billion for future property tax cuts in the 2010-2011 biennium. If the Senate's rider stays on the budget, the State would be forced to entirely eliminate CHIP, eliminate drug benefit coverage from Medicaid, or drastically reduce provider rates for hospitals and other health care providers.

"We're no longer fighting for twelve months CHIP eligibility -- we're going to be fighting for the existence of children's health care in Texas," Rep. Coleman said. "It's a callous disregard for children's health care. The choice to set aside dollars for future property tax cuts over responsibly settling the Frew lawsuit is absolutely, 100% inexcusable."