Pennsylvania governor pledges to protect CHIP funding

Pennsylvania Gov. Rendell assured child healthcare advocates that he would work to protect medical insurance for children from budget cuts in the face of a projected $3.2 billion deficit. The governor pledged his support to the state's Children's Health Insurance Program, which insures nearly 194,000 children in the state. Rendell is lobbying the legislature to temporarily raise the personal income tax as a way to help ensure that CHIP and other programs don't face cuts proposed by Senate Republicans.