[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 3]
[House]
[Page 3853]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                           HEALTH CARE REFORM

  (Mr. BURGESS asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. BURGESS. I received a letter yesterday from a State senator in my 
State, Tommy Williams, who's from the Beaumont area, not my immediate 
area but he serves on their Senate finance committee in the State. He 
worked on the State budget last year and will work on it again next 
year.
  He says: ``I am writing respectfully to ask you to oppose President 
Obama's proposed health care reform plan as outlined in the President's 
summary reform.'' He said: ``In a word, it will be devastating.''
  The analysis provided to Senator Williams from their Health and Human 
Services Commission is roughly $4 billion to $5 billion for the 2-year 
budget if we implemented this plan in a State that is arguably in 
better shape than other States but still facing a significant budget 
shortfall for the next budget year, $11 billion to $17 billion.
  He concludes with: ``I hope you understand as a member of the Senate 
Finance Committee who has wrestled with these very difficult issues I 
respectfully ask you to oppose President Obama's plan because of the 
fiscal havoc it would cause for the State we both love so dearly.
  ``Respectfully, Tommy Williams, State Senator.''
  I will put Tommy Williams' letter into the Record.
                                                   March 16, 2010.
     Hon. Michael Burgess,
     Cannon Office Building,
     Washington, DC.
       Dear Representative Burgess: During the last session of the 
     Texas Legislature it was my privilege to negotiate the 
     Article II (Health and Human Services) provisions of the 
     conference committee report on our state budget. In doing to 
     I have become intimately familiar with the effects that state 
     and federal mandates can have on health care-related costs in 
     Texas and to Texans.
       I am writing to respectfully ask you to oppose President 
     Obama's proposed health care reform plan as outlined in the 
     President's summary reform document released February 22, 
     2010.
       Recently, the Texas Health and Human Service Commission 
     (HHSC) provided me with an analysis of the impact of 
     President Obama's proposal on our state budget. In a word, it 
     will be ``devastating.''
       As I am sure you are aware, our state is in much better 
     fiscal shape than many of the others; however, we are facing 
     a gap between projected revenues and expenditures of 
     approximately $11-$17 billion for the next biennium. Health 
     and Human Services expenditures already make up roughly 1/3 
     of General Revenue (GR) expenditures and are a significant 
     cost driver in the state's budget.
       HHSC's analysis estimates that the President's proposal 
     would cost the State of Texas as much as $24.3 billion 
     dollars over the next 10 years. This includes a $6.0 billion 
     reduction in available DSH funding. Our state can simply not 
     afford an additional average cost of $4.0-$5.0 billion per 
     biennium over the 10 years it would take to implement this 
     plan.
       I appreciate your hard work toward health care reform we 
     can all support. I hope you understand as a member of the 
     Senate Finance Committee who has wrestled with these very 
     difficult issues I respectfully ask you to oppose President 
     Obama's plan because of the fiscal havoc it would cause for 
     the state we both love so dearly.
           Respectfully,
                                                   Tommy Williams,
     Texas State Senator, District 4.

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