Jay Rockefeller: “this budget cycle State legislators face the largest deficits in 50 years. To balance combined budget deficits of $60 to…”

“this budget cycle State legislators face the largest deficits in 50 years. To balance combined budget deficits of $60 to $85 billion, most States will be forced to raise taxes and cut spending. In July of last year, 75 Senators voted to provide meaningful fiscal relief to the states. That is why I return to the floor today to introduce ``The State Budget Relief Act of 2003,'' with my friends and colleagues Senators Collins, Ben Nelson, and Gordon Smith. This bipartisan legislation will provide $20 billion in immediate assistance to states to help pay for increases in Medicaid enrollment due to rising unemployment and to stop cuts in health insurance coverage, child care, education and other social services due to state budget crises. As one of the largest State programs, Medicaid has become increasingly vulnerable as a target for cuts. In 11 States, legislators have proposed and adopted cuts that when fully implemented will strip health insurance coverage from approximately one million low-income people. Further, when governors release their budgets this month, that number is expected to climb much higher than one million. Most of these people are parents and children in working families that will go uninsured without Medicaid coverage. If States are forced to institute further Medicaid cuts, our most vulnerable Americans will be left out in the cold. In West Virginia, Medicaid provides coverage to 14 percent of the population.”