As she did in Harrisburg, Allyson Schwartz is leading the charge. And as he did in Harrisburg, Jim Gerlach is finding any conceivable way he can to put his heals in the ground.

Lawmakers are gearing up this week for a bitter partisan battle over a popular children’s health insurance program that Democrats want to vastly expand.

The Senate and House are grappling with separate plans to more than double the $5-billion-a-year State Children’s Health Insurance Program, which doles out money to states to help families who earn too much to be covered under Medicaid pay for their children’s health insurance.

Renewal of the program, which expires Sept. 30, isn’t in doubt, but the expansion plans have sparked an intense partisan debate over the role government should play in health care, and bickering over how to fund the program.

Democrats argue the 10-year-old program must grow significantly to not only support the 6.6 million children already enrolled but reach youngsters who are eligible but not yet signed up.