The Senate defeated an amendment Tuesday that would have raised the tax to nearly $1. Sen. Brad Hutto said the proposal would have generated a half billion dollars and made more than a quarter million people eligible for health care through state-federal Medicaid programs.

The Senate quickly moved on to a plan that would raise the tax to 57 cents a pack. That's more than the 37 cents charged in Georgia and the 35 cents in North Carolina.

The increase would raise $159 million that would be used to fund Medicaid and private health insurance programs for the state's poor.