A nasty partisan bit of last-minute sleight-of-hand sent the “Healthy Kids Initiative” down for a third count Thursday. This one is going to come back to bite the Republicans at election time.

Barring some fancy legislative footwork in the Senate, it appears that voters will be deciding on this tobacco tax increase.

This never should have been a partisan issue. The lack of affordable health care to children of impoverished parents is one of those things we end up paying more to resolve. Increasing the tax on cigarettes tax by 84.5 cents a pack would have created a large insurance pool for at least the next six years.

Needy children could have qualified to obtain medical and dental services at a subsidized rate. The state’s legislative fiscal office estimated that the tax increase was enough to offset the loss of smokers expected to quit rather than pay.

Rural communities also would have benefited. Through negotiations with their Republican colleagues, the legislation’s sponsors — including Corvallis Rep. Sara Gelser — agreed to concessions that provided for improved prenatal care and assistance to clinics in rural areas where such clinics often provide the only accessible medical care.

All good, right?

By law, any bill that increases a tax requires a three-fifths majority, which meant that five Republicans needed to agree in order to produce a 36-22 vote.

The bill first was narrowly defeated in April. Substantial negotiations followed. It again was defeated — by a single vote — Monday. Six minutes before Tuesday’s scheduled vote, House Speaker Jeff Merkley thought the had the votes and a spare — 37.

But then there was a whole lotta

last-minute vote-switchin goin’ on.

Tuesday, Rep. Brian Boquist of Dallas and Rep. Sal Esquivel of Medford both switched from “yes” to “no.” And someone, whom Merkley declined to identify, indicated that he or she wouldn’t be switching after all.

Democrat Ben Cannon’s wife went into labor, so he was unable to cast his “yes” vote and — churlishly — no one on the Republican side would cast it for him as a courtesy, although he had done just that days before on another matter.

So, it looks as though the voters will once again be asked to decide something that our leaders should have supported to promote both general public health and improved children’s health care.

Boquist told the Associated Press, sorry, but his Monday promise to support the bill expired Tuesday, minutes before the vote. How whimsical of him. It’s hard to keep track of all such posturing. But this is one that we’ll remember.