Burnt Orange Report

A Winning Team for Texas Republicans...

By Byron LaMasters

... A losing team for Texas Kids:

The Wohlgemuth Record on Children

• Wohlgemuth wrote legislation that will remove as many as 270,000 Texas children from the Child Health Insurance Program - which also will prevent Texas from receiving hundreds of millions in federal funds. So far, 163,000 children have lost health insurance coverage so far. More than 45,000 have been cut from the Maternal and Child Health program.


• Wohlgemuth wrote legislation sharply cutting back on efforts to educate low-income families with uninsured children on how to enroll in the Texas Child Health Insurance Program. This contrasts sharply with the federal government's efforts to expand outreach to get as many as 2.6 million more children insured.


• In 2003, Wohlgemuth proposed ending the Texas Child Health Insurance Program entirely.


• Wohlgemuth voted to eliminate Healthy Texas Families - a child abuse prevention program which targets families at risk for abuse, neglect and other problems and trains young parents in breast feeding, immunization, and child development. So far, 1,768 families have lost these vital services and another 997 have been cut from the Family Outreach Program.


• Wohlgemuth proposed cutting the staff of Child Protective Services, the group that investigates child abuse and neglect and works to get children into safe homes.


• One billion dollars cut from K-12 education, a reversal on the commitment to educate Texas children.


• Wohlgemuth voted to cut a community youth development program meant to keep kids out of jail. This has prevented middle- and high school-age youths in some of the state's poorest areas from participating in athletic leagues and receiving help with homework. So far, more than 5,000 children have been cut from this program.


• Wohlgemuth voted to cut funding for state universities.

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