Rep. Coleman Urges Congress to Maintain Federal Funding for CHIP

(Austin)--State Representative Garnet F. Coleman (D-Houston) sent a letter to each and every member of the Texas Congressional delegation this week urging them to support Senate Bill 1224, which will reauthorize CHIP in a manner that best helps Texas provide coverage to the hundreds of thousands of children that are eligible for CHIP.

"This legislation is key to the continued efforts to fully restore CHIP in Texas," Rep. Coleman said. "Currently, more than 9 million children in America are uninsured, including one out of every five Texas children. Despite our recent shortcomings, we need Congress to look favorably on the state of Texas when they appropriate the federal funds or else more and more Texas children will lose their health coverage."

Texas has 1.3 million uninsured children -- more than any other state in the nation. At least 600,000-700,000 of those uninsured children would be eligible for CHIP, possibly more.

"Even with HB 109, Texas would still be enrolling 200,000 to 300,000 fewer children in CHIP than are eligible for the program," Rep. Coleman said. "My concern is that Congress will look at Texas' inaction and disinterest over the past four years and not allocate enough dollars to Texas to ensure we can fully restore CHIP in the coming years."

Over the past years, Texas has lost $913.4 million in federal matching funds for CHIP to other states because of the Texas Legislature's inability to enroll every eligible child in CHIP. Over 500,000 children were enrolled in CHIP in 2003, and despite recent efforts made by the Texas Legislature, over 100,000 fewer children would be enrolled in CHIP in 2009 than were enrolled in 2003.

"Many Texas lawmakers thought passing HB 109 was enough -- that we could go home to our districts and tell everyone, 'we fixed CHIP,' " Rep. Coleman said. "But the fight to fully restore CHIP didn't end at the end of our session. It requires constant vigilance, and I will continue to do everything in my power to support the children of Texas year-round. I believe our work isn't over until our state laws match federal guidelines to ensure every eligible child is enrolled in CHIP."

TXU, KKR to Cut Utility Rates by 15%, Place Summer Moratorium on Disconnecting Senior & Low-Income Consumers

State Representative Garnet F. Coleman (D-Houston) announced that TXU/KKR will cut utility rates by 15% throughout the state over the summer months. In addition, TXU will place a summer moratorium on disconnecting electricity from senior and low-income consumers.

"Rep. Jim Dunnam, Rep. Rene Oliveira,  myself and others worked very hard to ensure TXU provided much needed utility relief for Texas consumers," Rep. Coleman said. "As a result, this summer TXU customers will have their utility rates cut by 15%, and no senior or low-income consumer will be without air conditioning during the hot months ahead."

TXU/KKR had previously announced that they would cut utility rates by 10%. That will now be increased to 15%. The 15% rate cut is expected to provide a total savings of approximately $395 for the average single-family household.

According to a press release from TXU:

"Of that rate cut, six percent was delivered in March and four percent was to be delivered upon the close of the merger, which is expected late this year. Instead, these residential customers will now receive the full 10 percent price cut in early June and receive an additional 5 percent when the transaction closes, bringing the total price cut to 15 percent."

During debate on Senate Bill 482, Rep. Coleman & Rep. Rene Oliveira passed an amendment to the budget that would have cut electricity rates throughout Texas by 15%. However, the amendment was stripped when the bill went to conference committee, along with an amendment by Rep. Coleman & Rep. Jim Dunnam to increase emissions standards across the state.

"I'm pleased to see TXU has adopted the 15% cut that was in my amendment, even though the legislation did not pass," Rep. Coleman said.

Throughout the session, Rep. Coleman promised to fight for lower utility rates for Texas' utility consumers. The announcement by TXU is the first result of the efforts by Rep. Coleman and others. Rep. Coleman is drafting a letter to the Public Utility Commission (PUC) urging the PUC to adopt emergency rules requiring other utility companies to follow TXU's lead.

"I'm hopeful that all energy providers across Texas follow TXU's lead, and I am working closely with the PUC to ensure that happens," Rep. Coleman said.

The following are the details of the TXU announcement:

1.      If a consumer is low-income or at least 62 years of age, TXU will not disconnect electric service. Those customers may instead enter into a deferred payment plan where the customer may pay as little as 25 percent of the current electric charges each month.

2.      If a consumer is low-income and at least 62 years of age, TXU will not disconnect electric service. Those customers may instead enter into a deferred payment plan where the customer may pay as little as 25 percent of the monthly electric charges. Payments would not begin until October 1, 2007 -- mirroring what was done in the summer of 2006.

3.      Any customer designated as critical care will not be disconnected for non-payment.

4.      TXU will waive deposits for low-income residential customers who are at least 62 years of age and for residential customers with an electric bill payment history showing no more than one late payment during the prior 12 month period.

5.      TXU will not charge a penalty to any residential customer for requesting cancellation of a month-to-month retail electric service plan.

5,193 Fewer Children Receive Coverage Under CHIP in June

State Representative Garnet F. Coleman (D-Houston) announced that 5,193 lost their health coverage under the Children's Health Insurance Program in June, according to today's reports from the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC). Since March 2007, 24,295 have lost CHIP coverage.

"The continued decline in enrollment only reinforces the fact we must completely restore the CHIP program," Rep. Coleman said. "During the previous session, we partially restored the CHIP program, but we didn't do nearly enough."

During the recently completed 80th Regular Session, the Legislature completed two steps towards restoring CHIP coverage:

1.      Rep. Coleman placed a rider on the state budget that removes significant administrative barriers -- "red tape policies" -- HHSC has previously adopted that were making it more difficult for children to receive CHIP coverage.

2.      House Bill 109, by Rep. Sylvester Turner, restored some of the cuts to CHIP. Most significantly, it extended the renewal coverage from six months to twelve months for all families whose income is between 100-185% of the Federal Poverty Level. According to the Legislative Budget Board fiscal note on HB 109, the bill should add approximately 100,000 children to CHIP.

"The efforts made by Rep. Turner, myself, and other lawmakers will get us about halfway to where we were in 2003, but that's not good enough," Rep. Coleman said. "We will still have over 100,000 fewer children enrolled in CHIP in the coming months than we did four years ago. We can't continue playing catch-up with the past and calling it a day. Our work is not completed until every single child eligible for CHIP receives the health coverage they deserve."

Rep. Coleman: Ron Wilson Has Yet to Address Ethics Complaints

State Representative Garnet F. Coleman (D-Houston) announced that Speaker Tom Craddick's Assistant Parliamentarian Ron Wilson has yet to address the ethics complaints that were filed against him over the previous week. Rep. Coleman has yet to hear anything official from the Texas Ethics Commission or the Office of the Attorney General concerning possible ethics violations by Mr. Wilson.

"As we've tried to get information about Mr. Wilson's ethics, we are being stonewalled by the Texas Ethics Commission and the Office of the Attorney General," Rep. Coleman said. "To the best of our understanding, Mr. Wilson has yet to pay $3,800 to the Ethics Commission. After a week's time, we still have no official response from the agency."

In 2004, former State Representative Ron Wilson was fined $8,300 for ethics violations. Upon the matter being taken up with the Collections division of the Office of the Attorney General, Ron Wilson paid $4,500 of his fine. Rep. Coleman has filed an open records request to determine why the remaining $3,800 of the fine was not paid.

"Unfortunately, it's difficult to learn the truth about someone who has shown a consistent pattern of unethical behavior," Rep. Coleman said.

There is also the matter of Mr. Wilson's final closing of his campaign account.  His 2005 January Semiannual report – filed 15 days late – contains a sworn statement saying "I do not have unexpended contributions".  However, his 2005 July semiannual report contains a $1,647.20 difference between his expenditures and contributions. Mr. Wilson never reported how this outstanding balance in his campaign account was spent.

Rep Coleman will continue to look into the matter concerning Mr. Wilson's ethics complaints and will follow up next week upon hearing from the Texas Ethics Commission and the Office of the Attorney General.

New Law Extends Health Coverage for Foster Care Children Through Age 23

State Representative Garnet F. Coleman (D-Houston) announced that he successfully passed legislation to extend health coverage for children who were in foster care. The new law will help former foster care children to continue to receive health coverage until they are twenty-three years old, so long as they are in college, much like private health insurance that families have. The previous law only granted health coverage until age twenty-one.

"Extending health coverage for foster children to age 23 will help ensure more Texans receive the health care they deserve," Rep. Coleman said. “Access to health care was a key concern of foster care youth that I met with in the fall at a foster care youth summit."

Rep. Coleman filed HB 2380 this session that would have extended health coverage for foster care children through age twenty-five. Rep. Coleman offered an amendment to extend through age twenty-five onto Senate Bill 10, but it was negotiated down to age twenty-three when the bill went to conference committee.

"I wish we could have extended health coverage to age twenty-five and I wish we could have included all youth, not just those in college, but I'm pleased with the progress we made this session," Rep. Coleman said. "I will work hard next session to further extend health coverage for all foster care youth until age twenty-five."