Health Care for America Now, the liberal activist group affiliated with ACORN and several labor unions, announced a round of television ads today thanking 13 of the 219 Democrats who supported the health care reform bill that passed the U.S. House last night.

In Florida, that means free publicity for Suzanne Kosmas of New Smyrna Beach and Allen Boyd of Monticello, both
facing tough re-election campaigns this year. The two changed positions after citing a government report showing the plan would cut the deficit by $1.2 trillion over 10 years.

Other fallout in Florida today:

*Attorney General Bill McCollum, the leading Republican candidate for governor, meets with reporters this morning to discuss the lawsuit he plans to file over the legislation. McCollum, who somewhat ironically wants to lower health care costs with fewer lawsuits, says he’ll file when President Obama signs the bill.

*State CFO Alex Sink, the presumptive Democratic nominee for governor, sorta kinda supports the bill. In a press release this morning she uses words like frustrated, appalled, misinformation and disservice before concluding that “these long-overdue reforms are better than … nothing.”

*The Republican-led Florida House will push a series of measures today aimed at blocking the federal bill:

The Health Care Regulation Policy Committee considers an amendment for the state constitution (HJR 37) aimed at prohibiting Floridians from being forced to buy health insurance. The measure, which would be placed on the November statewide ballot, has 58 Republican sponsors and co-sponsors and no Democratic supporters.

The Health & Family Services Policy Council debates a nonbinding resolution (HR 1561) urging McCollum to sue the federal government and challenge constitutionality of the individual mandate.

*The federal bill has given Marco Rubio and Charlie Crist some common ground. The two Republican U.S. Senate candidates both criticize the presumptive Democratic nominee, U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek, for voting in favor of the measure. (Press releases here for Rubio, Crist and Meek.)

Tags: Alex Sink, Allen Boyd, Bill McCollum, Charlie Crist, Constitutional Amendments, health care reform, Kendrick Meek, Marco Rubio, Suzanne Kosmas

This entry was posted on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 at 9:43 am and is filed under 2010 campaigns, State House. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.