Former congressional hopeful Paulette Garin has a new campaign: a national, single-payer universal health care system.

Garin, of Kenosha, is now a Wisconsin coordinator for the national Leadership Conference for Guaranteed Health Care, lobbying locally for passage of H.R. 676, the United States National Health Insurance Act.

She pitched the bill to a Kenosha County Board committee last week, but got no formal support — for now.

The Legislative Committee tabled for 60 days a resolution supporting the plan.

Some supervisors bristled at the 6.6 percent payroll tax to back the plan.

“I personally do not want to pay another 6.6 percent to the government,” said Jim Huff, the committee chairman. “That’s a lot of an employee. That’s a lot.”

Garin countered that individuals are already shouldering those costs — through insurance costs laden with administrative overhead and a general sharing of the costs of caring for uninsured patients.

“We already pay for it,” Garin said. “And what you’re really doing in a system like this is making sure you’re never without coverage, with a single-payer system.”

H.R. 676 would require all Americans to enroll. In turn, Garin said it would provide complete coverage, with no co-pays or deductibles. The public pool of money generated through the tax would fund care given by private providers.

Responding to criticism about the quality of universal care in Canada and other countries, Garin said the United States can learn from the mistakes of others.

“We already have health care rationing in this country — it’s called your HMO,” Garin said. “When you lose your job at Chrysler, you’re not going to have access to your health insurance because you don’t have any.”

Supervisors, most of whom said they supported some form of universal care, batted the issue around before concluding they were not ready to act.

“My problem is we don’t have all of the facts,” said Supervisor William P. Michel II.

Garin also supported the legislation during her unsuccessful 2008 run for the Democratic nomination to oppose Republican Rep. Paul Ryan.

She said she was glad the Legislative Committee was willing to revisit the measure, rather than tabling it altogether.

“I don’t think this is a defeat,” Garin said.