SALEM - By hook or by crook, Oregon Democrats seem bent on pushing forward their proposal to fund an expansion of children's health programs with an increase in the state's cigarette tax.

So far, attempts to convince Republicans in the state House to go along with the plan have stalled, stymied by GOP opposition to tax increases, and their contention that the state should fund the children's health insurance plan with existing money, cutting back on other programs to cover the costs.

So on Friday, Senate Democrats teed up on the debate, passing their own plan to amend the state's constitution to raise the tobacco tax by 84.5 cents per pack on a 20-9 vote, with state Sen. David Nelson, a Pendleton Republican, and Sen. Avel Gordly, a Portland Independent, joining all 18 of the chamber's Democrats.

That's significant, because under state law, referring a constitutional amendment to voters takes just simple majorities in both chambers. Making a statutory change requires a three-fifths majority, meaning at least five House Republicans would have to join up with the 31 Democrats in the 60-member chamber.

It's also a riskier plan: Polls have shown that voters are more kindly disposed toward cigarette tax hikes than other tax increases, not unexpected since only about 20 percent of Oregonians are smokers.

But writing a tobacco tax increase into the state constitution could give some voters pause, or seem incongruous to others. If voters approved the plan, it would be the only outright tax enshrined in the state constitution.

Advocates of the plan point out that Oregon's constitution has already been much-amended, thanks to the state's many citizen-sponsored initiative drives. And they say providing health coverage for uninsured children is important enough to merit the constitutional referral.

“People have been critical about putting this issue in the constitution, but this is a critical issue,” said state Sen. Margaret Carter, D-Portland. “There are children going without care who are dying everyday.”

Republicans said they shared the Democrats' goal of extending coverage to the estimated 117,000 uninsured children in the state. But they questioned the funding mechanism, calling it unfair to expect a minority of Oregonians to bear the brunt of the new tax, which would mean a $2.02 tax on every pack purchased.

“This bill is extremely regressive,” said Sen. Frank Morse, R-Albany. “It is asking the poorest among us to pay a cost we all should bear.”

Legislative economists have estimated that if voters sign off on the proposal, it will raise nearly $200 million in new money in the 2007-09 budget cycle. Besides the giving state-subsidized children's coverage to families earning up to $51,600 for a family of four, the money would be used for adding about 10,000 people to the Oregon Health Plan. That's the federal-state Medicaid program for the impoverished and medically needy.

Funding generated by the tax would also go to tobacco prevention and education programs, and to school-based and rural health care clinics.