Middle Tennessee residents at one of several Tea Party Movement gatherings in downtown Nashville.by Tim Wetzel
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – A state house panel voted down a bill that would allow Tennesseans to ignore the new federal healthcare law.
The bill would have also directed the state's attorney general to join more than a dozen other states in suing the federal government.
The House Budget subcommittee was split down the middle on partisan lines. The deciding "no" vote was cast by House Speaker Kent Williams who is running for re-election as an independent candidate.
The Tennessee House Freedom Act got a lot of support from those in the Tea Party movement. They see the federal healthcare law signed into law by President Obama as an overreach of government powers.
The federal law requires individuals to buy health insurance. Local opponents vowed to fight the law on the state level.
Attorney General Bob Cooper called the lawsuit a waste of time and taxpayer money.
This subcommittee vote does not end the fight over healthcare at the state level. A similar measure has been moving through the legislature called the "Healthcare Freedom Act." The bill has been awaiting a full house vote sometime in the near future.
E-mail: twetzel@newschannel5.com
