Republican U.S. Rep. Tim Murphy pledged Tuesday to support an attempted override of President Bush's veto of an expansion of a popular children's health insurance program.
Murphy's Westmoreland County director, Louis J. Lazzaro, announced the plan last night during a candlelight vigil outside the legislator's Hempfield office.
About 45 health care workers and parents attended the vigil, organized by the Service Employees International Union's Pennsylvania State Council, to stress the importance of the State Children's Health Insurance Program.
Last week, Bush vetoed a $35 billion expansion of the program, opting for an extension of the 10-year-old program through a $5 billion funding increase.
House Democratic leaders have scheduled a Thursday vote to try to secure the two-thirds majority to overturn the president's veto.
The Senate, with the support of 18 Republicans, has gotten two-thirds to support the expansion.
Murphy, a co-chair on the 21st Century Healthcare Caucus, said last month that he was backing the expansion because SCHIP has "a proven track record of helping families make sure their children lead healthy lives."
"(Murphy) was under a great deal of pressure," said Allen Kukovich, director of Gov. Ed Rendell's Southwestern Pennsylvania office. "He voted the right way."
Helen Noel of Trafford praised the SCHIP program for helping her and her 61-year-old husband, who was injured in February, raise their two teenage grandchildren. Her husband Harvey, a painter, dislocated his shoulder when he slipped on ice while he was getting the mail.
He hasn't had any income since because the incident wasn't work-related, although he has applied for disability benefits.
"If it wasn't for the CHIP program, we wouldn't have any hospitalization," Noel said.
Bill Haney, a nursing assistant, said half of his colleagues at Briarcliff Pavilion for Specialized Care in North Huntingdon are single parents with small children.
A single father of three, the West Newton resident said he sometimes had to choose between preventative health care for his children or food before learning about SCHIP three years ago. Insurance was too pricey, and he made too much to qualify for Medicaid.
"It lifted a heavy load off my shoulders," Haney said.
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