With so much information coming at us from all sides, it can become difficult to sift through it all and determine exactly how we feel about specific issues.

I am consciously using the word "feel" instead of "think" because we often view political races on an emotional level rather than an intellectual level. I am suggesting that we use both our intellectual and emotional capacities to decide what makes sense regarding the national, state and local issues and then let us not forget the final step: to act upon our convictions.

For our 1.5 children without health care insurance in Texas, the race that needs to be won on their behalf is health care coverage. In actuality, connecting Texas' uninsured children with health care would save money for all Texans.

Right now, we all pay costs associated with uninsured patients through higher skyrocketing private premiums. Insuring children reduces those costs and brings our federal tax dollars back to Texas. Understanding that all Texans are paying the costs for not insuring our children, the chambers of commerce from Texas' largest cities came together during the 2007 legislative session to support the Children's Health Insurance Program -- CHIP -- and Children's Medicaid program.

With the overwhelming education and support in 2007, the Legislature prioritized children and passed House Bill 109, which brought 176,000 more children into CHIP in just six months.

With the overwhelming education and support in 2007, the Legislature prioritized children and passed House Bill 109, which brought 176,000 more children into CHIP in just six months.

HB 109 was a good start, but Texas has some hurdles to overcome.

Texas ranks last among the states in terms of health-care coverage for children. This alarming statistic only serves to make us more determined than ever to win the race.

In order to win, however, the Legislature will have to clear the hurdles for children already eligible for coverage and give parents real options that let them help pay for the cost of covering their children.

These two changes would put Texas on the right track to ensure all Texas children can get affordable health insurance coverage.

Roughly 750,000 Texas children -- half of our uninsured young -- already qualify for CHIP or Medicaid. But, red tape clogs our state's overwhelmed eligibility system.

First, this system needs enough qualified staff and a computer system that works so that errors and red tape do not block coverage for children whose families play by the rules.

Third, Texas should double efforts to spread the word about children's health insurance options and focus outreach in schools and local communities. This would ensure more applications get filled out properly the first time and that children who need CHIP and Medicaid get it.

Saving the state's eligibility system and enrolling eligible children in CHIP and Medicaid gets us halfway to the finish line.

We also need options for working families who can help pay the cost of insurance but whose income falls between the cutoff for CHIP and the level needed to afford private coverage. This is the fastest-growing segment of our uninsured child population.

Some of these parents ask for pay cuts to keep their children eligible for insurance the family can afford. We should encourage parents to keep working hard without sacrificing their children's coverage.

To do so, we should replace the sharp cutoff that sends families over the cliff with their first dollar past the CHIP eligibility line, instead providing a new option in which parents pay on a sliding scale a premium that increases along with their income.

I am proud to be a part of the Texas Finish Line Campaign, which works to get every Texas child access to comprehensive, affordable health insurance.

Please join our efforts to encourage Texas policymakers to build on their good work last session. It will be more important than ever that the Legis-lature prioritizes the security and health of children.

You can lean more at www.txfinishline.org

Jeannie McGuire is executive director of Project Unity in Brazos County and regional coordinator of the Texas Finish Line Campaign.