By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services/Arizona Capitol Times
Thwarted in earlier attempts, Republican supporters of a program to provide health insurance to the children of the working poor outmaneuvered their own leadership Thursday night to have the measure approved by the House.
Rep. Regina Cobb, R-Kingman, attached language to restore the program in Arizona to legislation dealing with vouchers that allow parents to use public dollars to send their children to private and parochial schools.
There was a political component to that choice: The change in SB 1457 is wanted by Republican legislative leadership — the same leadership that blocked efforts to put the restoration of KidsCare into the just-approved budget.