Only Supervisors Salud Carbajal, Joe Centeno and Janet Wolf supported the allotment, which needed four votes to pass. But the supporters voted to bring it back during annual budget hearings, when such funding proposals require only three votes. Those hearings begin June 11.

As the first step in a broader push to cover the county’s roughly 16,000 uninsured children, the plan drew measured fire - and abstaining votes - from Supervisors Brooks Firestone and Joni Gray. While both endorsed the plan’s aims, they raised concerns about fiscal solvency and competing health needs.

The measure - which seeks to cover insurance costs for 5,000 kids and direct about 11,000 others to programs they already qualify for - could cost up to $7 million over five years.

Supporters called children’s health a top priority.

“I think we would be remiss to not show leadership,” said Carbajal, adding that the plan could generate potential savings of $350,000 for the county and $3.5 million for local hospitals that often absorb the cost of unpaid emergency room visits.

The plan also enjoyed the strong support of Wolf and Centeno -- a Santa Maria official who often opposes government spending, he said. But Centeno said his encounters with sick children in the North County, including some with rotten teeth, changed his mind.

“I’m not going to walk away from that,” Centeno said. “I’m just not going to do that.”

Firestone objected on financial grounds, which he has done since Carbajal unveiled the plan earlier this year. He warned repeatedly that budget analysts predict future deficits from dwindling revenues and rising labor costs.

“We simply do not have the money,” Firestone said. He also urged holding off because many state and federal officials have expressed interest in providing health care.

The push to expand children’s health coverage sharpened after a 2005 study found that the county ranked second in the state for uninsured children per capita.

But Gray questioned the methodology of the study Tuesday, describing the findings as potentially exaggerated.

“It didn’t read very well and we should be accurate,” said Gray, who directed staff to review the study.

She also noted that approving the plan could hamper efforts to shore up local hospitals, recruit doctors and fund trauma centers mandated by the state.

“I’m just so fearful that we’re getting moved away from all of our health concerns,” Gray said.

Supervisors will hold budget hearings on June 11, 13 and 15. All meetings begin at 9 a.m. in the county administration building, 105 E. Anapamu St., in Santa Barbara.