The Senate Health Committee has rejected Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's effort to overhaul the state's health care system, voting it down 7-1.

Only one of the committee's seven Democrats supported the bill. All four Republicans opposed it.

Even Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, came out against it, and he is a co-author of the measure.

The Democrats who voted against the bill or didn't vote say they're afraid the cost of the program would be too great, especially as California faces a $14.5 billion budget shortfall.

Committee Chair Shiela Kuehl said there isn't enough money to fund the program.

"There's insufficient funding there for so called subsidies, there's insufficient money there to cover the expanded medi-Cal coverage," said Kuehl.

"If the headline is Health Committee kills reform, that's an erroneous headline. But we'll live with it ... The right headline is 'Senate Health Committee Does Not Pass Bad Bill,'" Kuehl added.

Meanwhile, Anthony Wright of Health Access California is disappointed at the Senate committee's decision. He said while $15 billion may not have covered the expense of reform, it's better than zero dollars. "This is still the top domestic issue in the presidential election," said Wright. "And so we think we need to keep the pressure on both at the state level and especially nationally when a new president comes into place in 2009."

Governor Schwarzenegger's Statement in Response to Committee's Vote

"Despite the Senate’s rejection of our comprehensive health care reform bill, I want the people of California to know I will not give up trying to fix our broken health care system. The issue is too important and the crisis is too serious to walk away after all the great progress we have made. The problems will not disappear. In fact, they are likely to get worse.

"Hard-working Californians will still live in fear of having their coverage terminated if they get sick or of being denied coverage due to a pre-existing condition. Medical bills will still drive millions of people into personal bankruptcy. Too many people will still be one serious illness away from financial disaster. A mother with a sick child will still wait up to 10 hours in a jam-packed emergency room unless we stabilize hospital finances and get more people covered. Businesses and families will still get hit with double-digit cost increases until we rein in those costs. Chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease will continue to afflict people and cost us billions until our health care system gets aggressive about prevention and wellness.

"When I proposed comprehensive health care reform in my 2007 State of the State speech, I knew that it would be difficult to fix our broken system. If it were easy, California would have gotten universal coverage 60 years ago – that's when Governor Earl Warren's reform plan fell short by a single vote.

"I thank Speaker Nunez and the Assembly for their hard work in getting health care reform to this point.

"I am someone who does not give up. Especially when there is a problem as big and as serious as health care that needs to be fixed. One setback is just that -- a setback. I still believe comprehensive health care reform is needed in California. We will keep moving forward. I can promise you that."