Day 22 - 2/20/2007

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Both the House and Senate re-convened today after a long weekend.  United States Senator Saxby Chambliss addressed both chambers individually.  He spoke about opportunities for partnership between state and federal officials.  Senator Chambliss mentioned two items of particular interest to child advocates- the No Child Left Behind Act and PeachCare.

Senator Chambliss stated that he is hopeful that the No Child Left Behind Act will be reauthorized, but he acknowledged that some mistakes were made in the original law.  While he did not identify particular parts of the law that he believes are problematic, he did say that Congress may have to change some of the provisions of the law during the reauthorization process.
Senator Chambliss told the legislators that he has been working closely with Senator Isakson to examine the best options to resolve the PeachCare budget shortfall.  He stated that he appreciated that bi-partisan delegation of state legislators that traveled to Washington to speak with members of Congress on the PeachCare issue.

Senator Chambliss reminded Georgia legislators that the SCHIP program has been in existence for 9 years and that, every 3 years, states are informed about how much their block grant under the program will be.  He said, “Congress has done all we’ve committed to do.”  While stating that the cause of the shortfall is that 70,000 kids were added to the PeachCare roles between 2005 and 2007, Senator Chambliss acknowledged that the State has honored its commitment to PeachCare.  He stated his continued support for the program, saying “ Healthy children learn better and make better citizens.”

Senator Chambliss told the legislators that he and Senator Isakson are promoting legislation that would allow the federal government to reallocate funds from the 33 states that have excess SCHIP money.  At, Senator Reid’s request, they agreed not to introduce legislation last week.  Instead, Senator Reid is working with them on a compromise solution that Senator Chambliss stated he expects the Senate to take up sometime next week.

The House passed several bills of interest today.  They passed HB 168 which changes the qualifications for associate juvenile court judges.  In addition they passed HB 153 which involves placement of children in the custody of the Department of Youth and Family Services.