Gov. Perdue To Testify Before U.S. Senate

1/30/2007

ATLANTA (AP) - Gov. Sonny Perdue will travel to Washington later this week to tell Congress about a shortfall in federal funding for children's health insurance that has placed Georgia's popular Peach Care program in jeopardy.

Perdue will testify before the U.S. Senate Finance Committee Thursday at 1 p.m. on behalf of the 17-state Southern Governor's Association.

Georgia's Peach Care program for low-income children is set to run out of money in March unless Congress steps in. The state is one of 17 facing a federal shortfall. In Georgia, the federal shortage totals $131 million.
Peach Care is funded by a combination of federal and state dollars. Perdue said that Georgia will provide its share but needs the federal dollars to keep the program afloat for 270,000 children.

"We stand ready to meet our commitment, and I will use this opportunity to ask Congress to continue to fund this important program," Perdue said in a statement released on Monday.

Perdue said that a glitch in the funding formula has meant that Georgia and other states are running out of money while $1 billion in state Children's Health Insurance Program money remains unspent. That is enough to cover the shortfalls in all 17 states, he said.

The Republican governor will be making an appeal across the political aisle as Congress recently moved into Democratic control. The Senate Finance Committee is led by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.

More information about SGA can be found at http://www.southerngovernors.org.