Campaign Action
The House of Representatives continues its week-long break, as states continue to panic about how they're going to continue providing health care to children without new congressional authorization of federal funds. That authorization expired on September 30. Everyone knew the deadline was coming, and yet here we are. Five states and some territories got an injection of leftover funds from the Trump administration this week, but that source is finite.
Arizona will receive $21.8 million, California $176.9 million, Minnesota $3.6 million, Washington $10.4 million and Oregon $14.2 million. The balance of the $230 million is going to the U.S. territories of American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the Virgin Islands.
The extra money will help those states keep their programs going a little longer. Minnesota, for example, said that the additional funds will keep its CHIP program running through the end of this month.
That means Minnesota only has enough until the end of the month. That's nine working days away, three of which the House isn't even in. The Senate could be speeding things along by passing their version of the bill this week, having it sitting in the House ready to go first thing next week. But no. Instead it's working on the budget resolution that's going to allow them to try to pass tax cuts for the 1 percent with only 51 votes.
Priorities, don't you know.