AP Features, July 19th, 2007
Brushing aside threats of a presidential veto, a Senate committee on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a five-year, $35 billion expansion of a children's health insurance program that would be financed through higher tobacco taxes.
A majority of Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee joined all of the committee's Democrats in voting to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which subsidizes insurance for children and some adults with incomes too high for Medicaid but not high enough to afford private insurance. The vote was 17-4.
"There are more kids without health insurance than there are kids in the first and second grades," said Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., the committee chairman. "Americans overwhelmingly support getting kids covered."
The additional spending approved by the committee would bring total SCHIP funding to $60 billion over five years _ double what the administration has proposed. The tax on a pack of cigarettes would increase by 61 cents to help pay for the expansion. Taxes on cigars and chewing tobacco also would jump.
The committee's Democratic leaders had wanted to add $50 billion to the program, and their counterparts in the House are determined to pursue that amount. The compromise forged by the committee could become extremely fragile if GOP senators are forced to vote on an expansion much beyond what the committee approved.
"I hope they understand it takes 60 votes to get anything done in the United States Senate," said Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa.
The 60 votes would be needed to overcome a filibuster. Baucus said he believes his proposal has enough support to overcome such a hurdle, as well as a promised veto from the president.
"The vote speaks for itself," Baucus said.
Lawmakers said the $35 billion expansion would allow 6.6 million people to maintain their current health coverage, plus it would provide coverage for an additional 3.2 million uninsured children.
Some dissenters on the committee believe the legislation raises taxes unnecessarily and does not do enough to refocus the program on low-income children.
"The Democrats are playing a game of reverse Robin Hood with this legislation," said Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss.
