Oregon children's insurance expansion fails to obtain three-fifths majority in legislature

The Oregon House on Thursday voted 32-24 in favor of a plan to expand health coverage to all children in the state by increasing the state cigarette tax by 84.5 cents per pack, but the proposal failed to win approval because a three-fifths majority is required to pass a tax increase, the Oregonian reports.

The Healthy Kids Plan, which all Democratic lawmakers and one Republican voted in favor of, would have provided state-subsidized health insurance to children in families with annual incomes less than $62,000 for a family of four. About 116,000 children in the state are uninsured, according to the Oregonian .

Anna Richter Taylor, a spokesperson for Gov. Ted Kulongoski (D), said, "This is not a defeat; this is just a delay." Taylor added, "There is still plenty of time this session to get this done, and the governor is going to keep pushing this." Democratic and Republican lawmakers said that they plan further discussions on funding an expansion of children's health insurance. Kulongoski and other lawmakers "left open the possibility" of introducing a revised version of the measure or proposing a state ballot measure to address the issue, the Oregonian reports. Some Democrats said they are optimistic that a plan can win approval this year (Colburn/Hammond, Oregonian , 4/27).