The Florida Senate got off to a tepid start Tuesday as the 2011 legislative session began, despite a loaded schedule in the first week.
Senators passed several uncontroversial resolutions, did some housekeeping by passing joint rules of the Legislature, and prepared the Health Care Freedom Act for a final vote on the floor.
Senate President Mike Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island, has been pushing the bill as a way for Floridians to opt out of the individual mandate portion of the Affordable Care Act, the year-old federal health care law backed by President Barack Obama. The individual mandate imposes penalties or taxes on those who do not obtain health care insurance. The bill would place an amendment to the state Constitution before voters on the 2012 ballot that would allow them to opt out of the individual mandate.
This is to make sure the individual mandate, which is of so much concern to Floridians, would not apply, Haridopolos said.
The individual mandate is first among the many provisions of the health care law that critics find objectionable, and is at the heart of efforts to push back against the highly controversial bill known as Obamacare.
Ruling on a lawsuit brought by Florida and joined by 25 other states, Pensacola-based U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson, a Ronald Reagan appointee, recently struck down the individual mandate as unconstitutional.
In the ruling, Judge Vinson stated that because the individual mandate is so integral to the whole of the law, the rest of the Affordable Care Act must be struck down as well. Judge Vinson last week ordered the Obama administration to expedite its appeal of his ruling.
The U.S. Supreme Court is likely to have the final say on the law. If it upholds Vinsons ruling before the bill makes it to the 2012 ballot, it would render the measure moot.
Haridopolos tried to place a similar amendment on the 2010 ballot, but a court struck down the amendment because its wording was too confusing for voters. The offending language cited by the courts has been struck out of this years measure.
This was a bill that actually passed the Senate last year and was struck down by the courts, so were taking a second look at it, Haridopolos said.
Haridopolos introduced the bill and explained it to his fellow senators Tuesday, but no formal debate or discussion was held and no final vote was taken. Instead, it will be handled later in the week.
The Senates schedule, however, is already getting crowded on the first day of the legislative session. The chamber is slated to take on the controversial merit pay bill for teachers Wednesday. Substantive bills are also on tap Thursday that would place a cap on state revenues that is tied to population growth and inflation, and allow juries to hear all the relevant facts of an enhanced injury product liability lawsuit.
While Haridopolos has helped move the Health Care Freedom Act through three Senate committees ahead of the legislative session, the House version of the joint resolution is yet to get a first committee airing.
Reach Gray Rohrer at grohrer@sunshinestatenews.com or at (850) 727-0859.
