He says he helped with the CHIPS Program. That is a lie!
FACT: Rep. Pena voted against fully funding CHIP. Rep. Pena joined 74 House Republicans and 7 Craddick Democrats to kill a proposal that would have restored CHIP funding to the pre-2003 levels of at least 507,259 Texas kids. (Amendment No. 4 to HB 109, Record vote #267, Tuesday, April 3, 2007, HOUSE JOURNAL PAGE #1505)
FACT: Rep. Pena voted against making more families eligible for CHIP, twice. (Amendment No. 5 to HB 109, Record vote #268 on Tuesday, April 3, 2007, HOUSE JOURNAL PAGE #1506, and Amendment No. 6 to HB 109, Record vote #269 on Tuesday, April 3, 2007, HOUSE JOURNAL PAGE #1507)
FACT: Rep. Pena voted against allowing thousands of Texas children to qualify for CHIP. (Amendment No. 10 to HB 109, Record vote #271 on Tuesday, April 3, 2007, HOUSE JOURNAL PAGE #1511)
FACT: Rep. Pena voted against including enrollment and renewal policies that allow for coverage under the perinatal program. (Amendment No. 17 to HB 109, Record vote #274 on Tuesday, April 3, 2007, HOUSE JOURNAL PAGE #1515)
Click to view the voting record
About CHIP
The Children's Health Insurance Program is designed for families that earn too much money to qualify for Medicaid but cannot afford health insurance for their children. The principal goal of CHIP is to provide primary and preventive care to the uninsured children of Texas families including children with special healthcare needs.
CHIP is funded jointly at the federal and state level. For every $1.00 of funding provided by Texas, Texas receives a federal match of over $2.50. The CHIP program was put in place to support the working poor, not the unemployed. Fully funding CHIP is the right, moral, decent, and economically sensible thing to do.
Aaron Pena caught lying again. I have lost count on the number of lies he has told. It's a damn shame. He's a Republican folks. The only thing I can say is "I told you so."
