Florida's Republican leaders applauded Monday's federal court decision knocking down a key part of the Obama health-care law, and vowed to aggressively press the state's broader legal battle against Washington.
Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum hailed U.S. District Judge Henry Hudson, who ruled in a separate challenge brought by Virginia that the federal government could not require individuals to purchase health insurance.
"While Judge Hudson struck the individual mandate, the lawsuit brought by 20 states before Judge Roger Vinson in Pensacola, Fla., challenges both the individual mandate and the costly Medicaid portions of the federal health-care act," McCollum said.
The implementation of this law could add more than 1.9 million Floridians to the Medicaid program, a tremendous financial burden on our state at a time when our budget has no room for extra expenses," the attorney general said.
As his case heads to oral argument Thursday in the Northern District of Florida, McCollum's fellow Republicans -- including his former rival in the Republican primary, incoming Gov. Rick Scott -- thrashed what Congress ironically dubbed the "Affordable Care Act."
"Obamacare is the biggest job killer in the history of this country and this decision will go a long way toward restoring the certainty businesses need to start hiring and restoring some sanity to the federal government," said Scott, a former health-care executive and one of the earlier opponents to the federal law.
Praising the Virginia ruling and hopeful for similar results in Florida's case, state Senate President Mike Haridopolos said he will continue to push for passage of Senate Joint Resolution 2, the Health Care Freedom Act.
"If Obamacare somehow survives these legal challenges, Floridians can have the same opportunity to do what companies and big labor unions are already doing -- opt out of this new law, said Haridopolos, R-Merritt Island.
In Washington, D.C., U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, R-Tequesta, said Hudson's decision confirmed his belief that a requirement to purchase health insurance exceeds congressional power under the Constitution.
"The Commerce Clause does not give Congress unlimited power to impose requirements and restrictions on American citizens.Never in our nations history has the federal government forced every citizen to purchase a product or service from a private company simply as a requirement of being a citizen," said Rooney, a former constitutional law professor at the U.S. Military Academy.
Alternatively, Rooney has called for "patient-centered reforms to bring down costs, like instituting medical liability reform and allowing small businesses and families to pool across state lines."
In the Richmond, Va., case, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli successfully argued that the state's residents could not legally be forced to buy health insurance.
"This won't be the final round, as this will ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court, but today is a critical milestone in the protection of the Constitution," Cuccinelli said in a statement after the ruling.
Indeed, two other judges -- one in Michigan and one in Virginia -- previously ruled that the federal health-care legislation is constitutional. Democrats in Florida and nationally have derided legal challenges as "frivolous."
Injecting politics into the mix, the liberal Huffington Post posted financial reports showing that Judge Hudson owns a $15,000-$50,000 stake in Campaign Solutions Inc., a GOP consulting firm that has worked for Reps. John Boehner, R-Ohio; Michele Bachmann, R-Minn.; and Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
Judge Vinson, like Hudson, has already asked tough questions of U.S. lawyers defending the mandates in the health-care laws. Hudson was appointed to the bench by George W. Bush and Vinson was appointed by Ronald Reagan. The two judges who upheld the health-care law were appointed by Bill Clinton.
In his 42-page decision, Hudson called the requirement that individuals obtain insurance or pay a fine by 2014 "unprecedented."
"Neither the Supreme Court nor any federal circuit court of appeals has extended Commerce Clause powers to compel an individual to involuntarily enter the stream of commerce by purchasing a commodity in the private market," he wrote. "In doing so, enactment of the [individual mandate] exceeds the Commerce Clause powers vested in Congress under Article I [of the Constitution.]"
Coming off the Virginia victory, opponents believe the legal momentum is swinging their way.
Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon, an Orlando area attorney, said Hudson's ruling "reinforces the fundamental constitutional principle that Congress powers are limited.In particular, Congress cannot regulate nonactivity -- that is, the decision not to buy health insurance -- under the guise of its authority over interstate commerce.
I remain hopeful and confident that the entire law will ultimately be found unconstitutional and am supportive of Floridas continuing involvement in the legal challenges to this legislation that will protect our state sovereignty and the rights of our citizens, Cannon said.
Pam Bondi, McCollum's successor as attorney general, called Monday's decision a "reminder that the Constitution places enforceable limits on the federal government's power.
"As the Virginia and Florida cases move forward, I will continue to stand up for Floridians against a law that is both unconstitutional and unaffordable," she said.
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Contact Kenric Ward at kward@sunshinestatenews.com or (772) 801-5341.
