NASHVILLE — State senators voted 26-1 Wednesday to compel the state attorney general’s office to launch legal challenges against any would-be federal legislation that requires individuals to buy health insurance.
Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mount Juliet, sponsor of the Tennessee Health Freedom Act, told colleagues the bill “would not nullify any federal law. It would simply acknowledge the right of individuals not to participate in a government-run health program.”
Sen. Andy Berke, D-Chattanooga, was the lone “no” vote. Five Senate Democrats, none from Southeast Tennessee, abstained. The bill has yet to move in the House.
“This bill was nothing but political grandstanding,” Sen. Berke said after the vote. “It doesn’t do anything to help the middle-class families who call my office every week, trying to get and keep health insurance, and the businesses struggling to pay their premiums.”
More than 30 states have passed or are considering similar laws or constitutional amendments as a protest against federal health care legislation. U.S. House and Senate versions of the federal bill mandate individuals obtain health insurance. U.S. government assistance would be provided to those unable to afford it.
However, the federal legislation is stalled.
Sen. Beavers, chairwoman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, argued that if Congress had the power to require that citizens purchase health insurance, it would not be “inconceivable … that they could mandate each of us buy a Chevrolet every year.”
An attorney, Sen. Berke said he doesn’t think Sen. Beavers’ bill is constitutional on several fronts.
“We can’t tell the attorney general to file a lawsuit because the attorney general has to analyze and see whether there’s a legal basis to file a lawsuit,” he said.
The American Legislative Exchange Council, comprising conservative lawmakers from across the United States as well as private sector members, including corporations and trade groups, has proposed model legislation to block any effort to impose the federal insurance mandate.
Sen. Beavers said she picked a bill that recently passed in the Idaho Legislature. At a news conference after the bill passed, she was joined by Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, the Senate speaker who is running for governor.
“People are getting upset about this, that the federal government is requiring us to do things,” Lt. Gov. Ramsey said. “This would require our attorney general to defend us on these issues.”
Lt. Gov. Ramsey and Sen. Beavers said the issue is different from a state law that mandates Tennessee motorists have liability coverage. People are not required to drive, they said.