Hatch Hits Another Hurdle with CHIP

None by KCPW

(KCPW News) The U.S. House of Representatives failed to rally enough Republican support to override the president's veto of the state-run children's health insurance program. The vote fell 13 votes short and included opposition from Utah Representative Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop. Utah Senator Orrin Hatch is a sponsor of the CHIP program and says he'll work on a compromise to preserve it.

Leading Democrats in the House and Senate have vowed not to budge on their plans to expand CHIP to cover more than the six million low-income kids currently on the program. They plan to pay for the increase by boosting taxes on cigarettes to one-dollar a pack. President Bush believes the proposed expansion covers too many middle-class children. Hatch is hopeful they can negotiate a truce that will not result in a second presidential veto.

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