Tea party groups are still fighting the health care reform law. (Photo by Amphis d’@illeurs.)
By Ashley Lopez
Florida Center for Investigative Reporting
Even though Republican state officials have begrudgingly accepted that the 2011 health care reform law needs to be implemented in Florida, the once politically relevant tea party is still fighting the law.
This week, a select committee in the Florida Legislature convened to discuss how to move forward with the law. The committee is tasked with determining whether Florida should implement a state-run health insurance marketplace or allow the federal government to administer the insurance exchange.
Republicans in the GOP- controlled legislature, hoping that the health care law would be overturned or repealed, have been dragging their feet on this decision since the law’s implementation more than a year ago. But the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the law and President Obama’s reelection have dashed hopes that state officials wouldn’t be required to implement the law in Florida.
But that doesn’t mean the legislature is now supportive of the law. The politician Senate leaders appointed to to run the committee charged with overseeing implementation of the law was state Sen. Joe Negron, R-Stuart, who has been vehemently opposed to the health care law. According to the News Service of Florida, Negron’s “priorities include protecting individual choice in health-care matters, limiting regulations on businesses that are subject to the law and promoting competition and value as Floridians make decisions about buying coverage.”
Despite the slow and unenthusiastic attempt to implement the health care law in Florida, lawmakers still had to listen to protests from tea party members at the meeting.
The Miami Herald/ Tampa Bay Times reports:
At the end of the presentation, Negron allowed about 45 minutes for public comment. About a dozen people opposed to the law, calling it both unjust and constitutional, spoke during that time. Many said they were affiliated with tea party groups. Not one supporter of the law spoke up during the public comment period.
Toward the end of the meeting, Senate Minority Leader Chris Smith decided to address the speakers who oppose the law. “It’s hard to sit here and be silent and listen to some of this,” he said as he launched into a mini history lesson.
Smith said the federal government has had to step in previously when the U.S. Constitution fell short, referencing school integration and even the Thirteenth Amendment outlawing slavery. “The federal government had to stand in because our Constitution is an imperfect document.”
That riled up the tea partiers, who booed loudly as Smith tried to finish his statement, holding up the constitutional amendment process as proof that sometimes history proves controversial new laws right. Eventually, Negron stepped in to chastise the crowd for not showing Smith respect.
News Service reported that tea party members were still claiming that the law was unconstitutional, even though the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the the law, with Chief Justice John Roberts, a George W. Bush appointee, writing the majority opinion.