Lost in the debate over the Iraq war supplemental is the fact that the $124 billion legislation doesn’t just contain support for the war effort in Iraq but also much needed funds for programs essential to low-income families. Assistance with home energy bills, health insurance for children, and presidential approval of the increase in the federal minimum wage are among the items included in the supplemental.

The bill includes $400 million for LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) to help low-income families and seniors with heating and cooling costs. Ohio would get approximately $10 million for its energy programs. Despite the steady rise of energy costs, in recent years Congress made cuts to this vital program that often means the difference between paying energy bills or buying groceries. The $400 million restores some of that lost funding.

Fourteen states are currently facing a shortfall in funding their SCHIP (State Children’s Health Insurance Program) plans. The war supplemental includes $750 million for SCHIP to help those states make up those shortfalls so states can provide uninterrupted health care to children while Congress moves forward with reauthorizing the program which expires at the end of this year. Without this funding, hundreds of thousands of low-income children could lose their health care.

Final passage of the minimum wage increase that Congress approved earlier this year is also in the war supplemental. Both the House and Senate attached their minimum wage bills to the war supplemental when they couldn’t come to agreement and then negotiated a package when the supplemental went into conference that included a gradual increase to $7.25 an hour over three years and tax breaks for small businesses.

President Bush vetoed the supplemental largely on the grounds that he opposed setting specific dates for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq, but he also expressed opposition to including the additional funding for domestic programs such as LIHEAP and SCHIP as well others including support for health care for active duty military and veterans. As Congress and the White House work out their differences on the war, these other problems remain unaddressed and it is not clear if they will make their way into the next supplemental agreement.