Virginia Senate Republican Caucus

Today, the Health Care Freedom Act passed by an 8-7 vote in the Senate Commerce & Labor Committee.  The Act was contained in three identical bills: SB 311 (Martin), SB 283 (Quayle), and SB 417 (Vogel).

See the release below issued by RPV:

Three identical bills put forward by Sens. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Upperville, Sen. Stephen Martin, R-Chesterfield , and Sen. Fred Quayle, R-Suffolk were all voted out of the Democrat-controlled Committee on Commerce and Labor with a bi-partisan majority.

The bills, which you can see at this link to Senate Bill 417, hold that no resident of the Commonwealth will be required to purchase health insurance. A personal mandate is a major part of the Democratic plans being negotiated on Capitol Hill right now.

The bills passed on 8-7 votes, with Democratic Sens. Phil Puckett, D-Russell County, and Chuck Colgan, D-Prince William County, voting with the Republicans. Just last week, Democrats increased their majority on that panel to two seats, making it all the more unlikely that any Republican legislation would be voted out to the Senate floor.

Krystal Slivinski over at the Tertium Quids blog has a pretty good blow-by-blow account of what happened.

All three patrons said they were pleased with the remarkable display of bipartisanship.

“This is an important piece of legislation because it demonstrates that Virginia remains committed to individual rights and freedoms,” said Sen. Fred Quayle, R-Suffolk.  “There are limits to what government can force on citizens and requiring them to maintain health insurance crosses that line.  With the bipartisan show of support the bill received today, I am confident that it will succeed going forward.”

"[Republicans and Democrats on the committee] were willing to pass a bill that is responding to the overwhelming tide of people who are filling our offices to talk about not state legislation, but federal legislation," said Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Upperville. "Anyone will concede that health care has issues. Health care is broken. This really comes down to Federalism, and honoring that there are some issues best left to the states."

“Across party lines, the Senate showed today that Virginians will not stand for any federal mandate to purchase health insurance,” said Sen. Steve Martin, R-Chesterfield.  “Voters are sending messages in elections across the country that they do not want these government mandates.  I am pleased to see that Virginia legislators are heeding the message, as today’s vote clearly demonstrates.”

Bottom line:

If an effort to stop the Democratic effort to take over health care can pass out of Majority Leader Dick Saslaw's committee — with enough crossover votes for passage in the full Senate —just how unpopular is this thing with the people back home?