House Approves Expansion Of Popular State Children's Health Care Program

The House approved an expansion of a popular state children’s health care program Tuesday night with the support of 45 Republicans despite a threatened veto by President Bush.

The House passed the measure, 265-159, to increase funding for a state-run health program for children not covered by Medicaid. But the tally falls well short of the votes necessary to override a presidential veto.

The legislation would extend the current program, which expires at the end of this month, and expand it by 4.4 million children to cover 10 million younger Americans. The expansion would cost $35 billion over 10 years, paid for with a 61-cent tax increase on every pack of cigarettes.

Republican leaders argued the change would cover children who live well above the poverty level and expand the government-run health care rolls with people currently covered by private insurance.

Members of the minority also argued the legislation would cover illegal immigrants, something Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, whose Finance Committee helped craft the measure, vehemently denied in one of the many public GOP rebukes of Bush and the Republican House leaders this week.

Lawmakers are expected to include a brief extension of the program in a stopgap spending measure later this week to fund the federal government through mid-November after the fiscal year ends this weekend.

Democratic leaders will then seek to pick up enough votes to override the veto, but they need to pick up somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 additional votes. In the meantime, members of the majority plan to target Republicans in swing districts who voted against the bill Tuesday night.