Despite pending state health law legal challenge, some legislators take opposite stand

Jan 13 2012

Media outlets from Connecticut, Texas and Iowa report on how a Supreme Court brief, which was filed by the Progressive States Network and signed by hundreds of state officials, is shaking up some state-level policy discussions.

The Connecticut Mirror: Legislators Sign On To Health Reform Brief For Supreme Court
Forty-three Connecticut legislators have signed on to (express) their support for the federal health reform law through an amicus brief being filed on behalf of state legislators across the country. ... According to the Progressive States Network, the brief will argue that the health reform law respects the Constitutional balance of power between the federal and state governments by providing federal mechanisms for achieving reforms while giving states the ability to shape how many aspects of the law are implemented (Levin Becker, 1/12). 

The Texas Tribune: Texas Democrats Defend Federal Health Reform
Texas, via its Republican leadership, has already joined the two-dozen other states challenging the constitutionality of federal health care reform before the U.S. Supreme Court. Now, 27 Democratic Texas lawmakers have signed on to try to defend it (Ramshaw, 1/12).

The Dallas Morning News: Texas Dems Support Obama Health Care Law Before High Court
Twenty-six Democratic members of the Texas Legislature signed a brief that was filed with the Supreme Court today supporting President Barack Obama's 2009 health care overhaul. The brief, which will be published tomorrow, allows Democrats to go on record supporting a law that has been attacked by the Republican-controlled state. Gov. Rick Perry regularly assails "ObamaCare" on the campaign trail, and Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott signed Texas up to be one of the 26 states challenging it before the Supreme Court (Collins Walsh, 1/12).

Des Moines Register: Democrats Rip Branstad For Helping Try To Toss Out Federal Health-Reform Law
Democratic legislators criticized Gov. Terry Branstad today for supporting a lawsuit against the national health-reform effort. Sen. Jack Hatch, a Des Moines Democrat, noted that the Republican governor has vowed to make Iowa the healthiest state in the nation, and has accepted millions of dollars of federal grants from the health-reform program. "He's sending kind of a two-sided message," Hatch said at a Statehouse press conference attended by about a dozen legislators (Leys, 1/12).