Every change of administration sets new priorities for Congress, but the Mississippi delegation will face special challenges this year.
In the midst of an economic recession, lawmakers will cast votes on legislation that would bring the state hundreds of millions of dollars in new and existing projects, extend health care to the uninsured and make major changes in federal tax policy. Mississippi’s lawmakers also have pet projects and issues they hope to advance.
The House began the session with unfinished business from last year, the reauthorization of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program.
CHIP was created in 1997 to provide health coverage to children in families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid, the government health-care program for the poor, but too low to afford private insurance. The bill the House approved last week would enroll 4 million more children and adults in the program at a cost of $35 billion over 4 1/2 years.
Magnolia Tribune
