Roberts: Arizona lawmakers unite to save KidsCare ... and pigs fly

Clearly, Andy Biggs has left the state Capitol.

I know this, because Republicans and Democrats in the Arizona House Health Committee joined together on Thursday to support a bill that could save KidsCare.

This, on the off chance (OK, so pretty good chance) that Congress will cut the level of federal funding for the Children’s Health Insurance Program – or as we call it in Arizona, KidsCare.

The federally funded program offers low-cost health insurance to nearly 25,000 Arizona children whose parents earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but not enough to afford private insurance. These are kids whose working parents no longer have to choose between paying the rent and taking a sick child to see a doctor.

Arizona was the only state without CHIP

The Legislature froze (read: essentially killed) KidsCare in 2010, earning Arizona the distinction of being the only state without a CHIP program. Our leaders decided they could no longer afford to pay $1 for every $3 the feds kicked in to ensure these children had access to decent medical care. As a result, tens of thousands of Arizona children went without.

In 2016, Gov. Doug Ducey and a bipartisan coalition at the Legislature restored KidsCare despite the best efforts of then-Senate President Andy Biggs to block it. This after the feds agreed to pick up 100 percent of the cost of the program.

MORE:Arizona finds stopgap funding to keep KidsCare, but for how long?

But there was a hitch: if federal funding fell by so much as one penny, KidsCare automatically would go back into the deep freeze.

Now, Congress is working on a renewal of CHIP but the proposal calls for federal funding to drop to 91 percent by 2020, down to 79 percent in 2022.

Translation: wave goodbye to your health care, kids.

Biggs is gone, so now pigs are flying

Enter House Bill 2127. The bill, by Rep. Regina Cobb, R-Kingman, would repeal the automatic trigger that kills the program unless feds fully fund it. Instead, legislators would have the option of kicking in state money to backfill any drop in federal funding.

If Biggs was here, he’d be howling.

Since he’s not, the committee voted 7-0 to pass the bill. Even Rep. Jay Lawrence, R-Scottsdale, who opposed the restoration of KidsCare in 2016, voted yes.

The bill has a long way to go, but here we are in week two of the legislative session and Republicans and Democrats are working together for the good of children. And dogs and cats are living together. And pigs? They’re doing loop-d-loops around the copper dome.

Maybe Congress could take a peek at how it’s done?

Here's who voted for HB 2127:

Republican Reps. Regina Cobb of Kingman, Jay Lawrence of Scottsdale, Tony Rivero of Peoria, Michelle Udall of Mesa and Heather Carter of Cave Creek.Also, Democrats Kelli Butler of Paradise Valley, Tony Navarrete of  Phoenix, and Pamela Powers Hannley of Tucson.

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