Fla. House passes bill backing health care lawsuit

TALLAHASSEE – The Florida House has passed a bill backing Attorney General Bill McCollum’s lawsuit challenging the federal health care overhaul.

The bill (HB 7235) passed on a partisan 74-41 roll call with Republicans in favor and Democrats against. It now goes to the Senate.

The Republican-controlled Legislature already has voted to put a related state constitutional amendment on the Nov. 2 ballot.

It would bar Floridians from being forced to obtain insurance coverage required by the new federal law. Legal experts, though, say that law would trump the amendment under the “supremacy clause” of the U.S. Constitution.

Several other state’s have joined the lawsuit by McCollum, who also is seeking the GOP nomination for governor.