Senate President Mike Haridopolos' Health Care Opt-Out Bill Passes Last Committee

A joint resolution to put a constitutional amendment on the 2012 ballot allowing voters to opt out of the year-old federal health-care law passed through its third Senate committee Wednesday.

Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, has been pushing the bill, along with House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park, as a way to push back against the Affordable Care Act that imposes an individual mandate on Americans that requires them to obtain health insurance or face fines or taxes.

"We want to make sure that Floridians, and not the government, have the freedom to make health care decisions," Haridopolos told the Senate Budget Committee.

The bill passed along largely partisan lines, with four of the six Democrats on the 20-member committee voting against it.

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