The U.S. House was unable to override President George W. Bush's veto of a tobacco tax hike legislation that was to fund the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

The House's 273-to-156 vote Thursday fell 13 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a presidential veto.
The bill would have increased federal tobacco excise taxes the equivalent of 61 cents per pack of cigarettes. Additionally, the tax cap on cigars would be raised from five cents to three dollars, an icrease of 6,000 per cent.
The USD 35 billion raised by the tobacco tax increase over five years would have offset the cost of expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The bill's supporters said that by 2012, the expansion would have allowed the program to cover nearly 10 million children. Bush vetoed the bill on 3 October, arguing that it would encourage families to drop private insurance
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi already promised to have the same bill back on Bush's desk within two weeks. Asked whether the bill might include an alternative funding source, she simply responded, ‘no’. (pi)