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July 24, 2007

The Honorable Harry Reid
Majority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Mitch McConnell
Minority Leader
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable Nancy Pelosi
Speaker
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

The Honorable John Boehner
Minority Leader
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Senator Reid, Senator McConnell, Speaker Pelosi and Representative Boehner:

The nation's governors call on Congress and the Administration to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) prior to September 30, 2007. The authorization for this critical safety net program will soon expire and urgent action is needed to ensure its continued success for the next five years. For many reasons, defaulting to a series of temporary extensions of the program would be untenable for states and the millions of children who rely upon the program.

While we have not taken a position on the actual overall funding amount or the sources of revenue used as offsets, we are encouraged by the Senate Finance Committee's efforts to move a bipartisan reauthorization bill that provides increased funding and reflects the general philosophy that state flexibility and options and incentives for states are preferable to mandates. Our recently enacted policy on SCHIP and a series of letters we have sent since February outline our positions on these issues in more detail.

We look forward to working with all of you to ensure that a sensible bipartisan SCHIP reauthorization can be signed into law in a timely and certain manner.

Sincerely,

Governor Tim Pawlenty

Governor Edward G. Rendell

Governor James H. Douglas
Chair, Health and Human Services Committee

Governor Jon S. Corzine
Vice Chair, Health and Human Services Committee

Governor Janet Napolitano
Arizona

Governor Deval Patrick
Massachusetts

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Delaware

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Michigan

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Connecticut

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Montana

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Arkansas

Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco
Louisiana

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South Dakota

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Colorado

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Maine

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Oklahoma

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Maryland

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Northern Mariana Islands

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Illinois

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Guam

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Washington

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New York

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Wisconsin

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Kentucky

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Iowa

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Georgia

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Utah

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New Mexico

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Kansas

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California

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Virginia

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Nebraska

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Ohio

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North Carolina

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Rhode Island

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Nevada

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New Hampshire

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Hawaii

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Oregon

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Wyoming

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Tennessee

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North Dakota

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Alaska