During a 1-minute speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Congressman Michael Burgess read a letter he received from a Texas State Senator, Tommy Williams, who wrote asking Burgess to oppose President Obama's health care reform proposal, and listing why the bill would be bad for Texans, calling the bill "devastating."  To see a video of Burgess' speech, click here.

Madame Speaker, I received a letter yesterday from a State senator in my State, Tommy Williams, who's from [The Woodlands], 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.

The Honorable Michael Burgess,
229 Cannon Office Building,

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