Longview Daily News from Longview, Washington • 10

SATURDAY JUNE 23 2007 THE DAILY NEWS LONGVIEW WASH The Daily News online- wwwtdn com B4 Costs rise for insuring Washington (ids higher numbers came to light after the Legislature adjourned and officials were trying to figure out how to reach the children who became newly eligible for health coverage State officials learned they already had information about many families whose children had earlier been denied coverage because their parents made too much money or because they were not citizens Gantz said Many of them are the brothers and sisters of children who already receive medical coverage from the state but who previously were denied coverage because their siblings are citizens but they are not Gantz said Gregoire have set a goal of providing access to health care for all children by 2010 They have said the cost will be offset by $30 million in savings from fewer emergency-room visits that the state otherwise would have to pay for An estimated 635000 children under the age of 18 that come from low-income families will have access to coverage by mid-2009 according to the office That includes children covered by Medicaid the Basic Health Plan and two other state-subsidized programs Roger Gantz a policy adviser for the state Department of Social and Health Services said the think there would be this he said now we know more kids will have health care The net impact on the state budget is $6 million a year Moore said While the higher numbers came as a surprise Gov Chris adviser on health care issues said the purpose of expanding the program is to help as many poor children as possible regardless of their citizenship are Nick Lutes said The new law allows a family of four with an annual income of as much as $62000 to qualify for state-subsidized health coverage Democrats including THE ASSOCIATED PRESS OLYMPIA A measure that would provide subsidized health care coverage to 10000 more children in Washington will cost $15 million more than predicted state officials say State Sen Joe Zarelli of Ridgefield the top Republican on the Senate budget-writing committee said the $45 million program offset by $19 million in new federal money will also pay for medical treatment and health coverage for a large number of illegal immigrants at the expense of poor families that are US citizens is a program that mostly benefits kids of illegal immigrant Zarelli said Thursday at a meeting of the Caseload Forecast Council a group of lawmakers and cabinet members Zarelli predicted in March that the cost would be higher than what Democrats forecast when the Legislature passed the law Of the $45 million $12 million will be spent on citizen children who were previously uninsured About $8 million be spent on US citizens who are already covered by other insurance programs And $25 million will be spent on non-citizen children Victor Moore director of the state Office of Financial Management said there is no question that more children are eligible for the program than originally estimated Oregon House approves ATV safety legislation THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SALEM A watered-down bill to regulate the all-terrain vehicle industry in Oregon drew stiff opposition from House Republicans Friday but still passed At least four regulatory proposals were batted around in the Legislature this session but most were derailed by an ATV user group that opposed many of the safety precautions that advocates said would reduce deaths and injury That the case with the bill the House approved Friday 31-28 was absolutely no opposition in committee on this bill from the said Rep Terry Beyer D-Springfield manufacturers and distributors of all-terrain vehicles all support this Board authorizes probe of Betsy Johnson's land deal By Julia Silverman THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SALEM Members of the Government Standards and Practices Commission voted Friday to authorize a preliminary investigation into allegations that State Sen Betsy Johnson D-Scappoose failed to report her profits from a property sale that has been linked to legislation that she sponsored Johnson did not attend the meeting But afterward she told The Associated Press that she had been expecting commission members to authorize the preliminary tered Republican Also Friday commission members voted to order a hearing for Rep Dennis Richardson R-Central Point after six alleged violations of financial reporting laws Richardson recently filed amended statements with the ethics commission detailing expense-paid trips to six national conferences stretching back to 2003 He told the Medford Mail-Tribune that he filed the amended statements after reviewing his own files in the wake of news coverage of other legislators taking trips for which lobbyists footed the bill which were never reported Richardson said he had received no benefits from any lobbyists or organizations with an interest in current legislation NewWestsideXTerrace Retirement Assisted Living Medicaid Accepted she will likely face a fine Several members of the ethics commission have ties to Johnson a timber heiress who comes from a politically well-connected Central Oregon family Chair Sue Hildick recused herself from the vote because she heads the nonprofit Chalkboard Foundation which does educational research Johnson has been a key legislative adviser to the group Commission member Judy Stiegler said she considered Johnson a political mentor and that Johnson had contributed to her campaign when she ran unsuccessfully for the state legislature from Bend in 2004 And Commissioner Delna Jones said she had known both Johnson and her family for years stretching back to when Johnson was a regis- Painting Pressure washing Home repair Remodeling Consulting Additions Doors windows Kitchens baths Design build I icensed Bonded Insured 300 200-24 6H IlFC TREE SERVICE "AU aspects of tree Serving Cowlitz County since 1991 Locally owned operated by Rob Kesler 274-7098 425-4074i Cell Phone 749-5019 View my listings on HomeFinder" Log onto WWWtdllC0m Diane Buckner dbuckner9windermere com 430-3682 Windermere indi mil Kml I MutiUlvii AsmhIiiHs and her husband made about $45000 in profits after expenses Whether Johnson had a conflict of interest because of the land sale that she failed to disclose when she sponsored legislation to promote special access to rural airports for private landowners The form of access though was already in place in Scappoose Johnson the former owner of a helicopter company has said she was trying to promote rural economic development If the investigation reveals that Johnson broke the law Vicki Walker D-Eugene Lawmakers said preventing contaminants from entering the waste stream is better than trying to remove them later Levels of traditional pollutants like mercury are regulated by federal standards but the impact of thousands of new toxins is less understood The bill now moves to the House The bill is SB737 -72 iResTaurantaterlng Oregon Senate takes on Willamette River toxins with campaign aimed at consumers review of her case have sent them a letter saying I will provide any information that they Johnson said Broadly commissioners sketched out several issues for ethics investigators to focus on: failure to report both that she purchased the parcel of land in question on her 2004 statement of economic interest and that she had sold it in 2005 on that report She reported the sale of the property which is next to the Scappoose airport in April of this year and has said she standards downstream Opposition from industry and cities quashed that effort and environmentalists took a different track in 2007 Instead the focus was on negotiations among industry municipalities and environmentalists on a nontradition-al approach to mitigating toxins After Department of Environmental Quality has identified the most persistent and harmful toxins in the Willamette the agency will use public awareness campaigns and take-back programs to change consumer behavior changed the nature of the debate and started talking with each other instead of at one said Sen ALL WHEEL DRIVE 29 MPG HWY SIDE AIR BAGS MSRPM 8695 Rebate -S1 000 Bud Clary Discount -51 1 97 OHIY 1 6490 By Aaron Clark THE ASSOCIATED PRESS SALEM The Oregon Senate voted Friday to start fighting an emerging source of pollution in the Willamette River: chemicals in products like birth control pills and flame retardant They are called toxins which stay in the environment for long periods of time and are increasingly found in fish wildlife and humans The 20-6 vote was a victory for lawmakers who have tried for years to do more to clean up the Willamette In 2005 environmentalists tried to phase out areas where waste treatment plants discharge pollution to be diluted in the river to meet Premium Retailer EXCLUSIVE Bring this coupon in and get an additional i ANY PHONE 2007ISUBARU1IMRREZA SALE PRICES POSTED IN EVERY 2007 SUBARU IN STOCK! 19 Stk 6727 07JSUBARUIRORESTER SIDE AIR BAGS ALL WHEEL DRIVE 29 MPG HWY MSRP s22l 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