ATLANTA—Attorney General Thurbert Baker refused Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue’s request that he file a legal challenge to the federal health care reform bill.
Baker wrote on March 24, “I am unaware of any constitutional infirmities and do not think it would be prudent, legally or fiscally, to pursue such litigation. I must therefore respectfully decline your request.”
Perdue, and the governors of 14 other states, objected to the requirement that U.S. residents must purchase health insurance or be fined. He also found the bill fiscally irresponsible. Perdue wrote, “Here in Georgia, this vote will force an additional billion dollars or more of Medicaid spending per year, requiring either a tax hike or offsetting cuts to public safety, education, and other core services of state government. While this colossal unfunded mandate cripples our budget, I am even more concerned about the debilitating impact it will have on Georgia’s small businesses.”
Baker stated that the federal government would be covering most of the additional Medicaid expenses when H.R. 4872, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, becomes law. On the constitutionality of mandating people to buy insurance, he cited a similar challenge against the state of Massachusetts. The court found that the state’s law, similar to the new federal health care law, was constitutional.
Gov. Perdue said on Thursday he will appoint a special attorney general to file the suit since Baker has refused.
Each man is an unlikely symbol of America’s partisan divide.
Perdue is near the end of his second term, not eligible to run again. On some issues he has taken a hands-off approach. He has not always sided with Georgia’s predominantly Republican Legislature. He twice vetoed proposed tax cuts. He and his wife are foster parents, and as such he has focused on the needs of children in state custody.
Baker, a black Democrat, famously supported prosecutors in the case of Genarlow Wilson, a black teenager labeled as a sexual offender and jailed after a consensual encounter. Baker also urged black Democrats to accept the state’s voter ID law. He is running for governor in a crowded field which includes former Gov. Roy Barnes, who won a “Profile in Courage” award for working to remove the Confederate Battle Flag from Georgia’s state flag. Supporters of the current flag campaigned against Barnes and for Perdue. They expressed disappointment when Perdue did not restore the old flag.
Baker wrote on March 24, “I am unaware of any constitutional infirmities and do not think it would be prudent, legally or fiscally, to pursue such litigation. I must therefore respectfully decline your request.”
Perdue, and the governors of 14 other states, objected to the requirement that U.S. residents must purchase health insurance or be fined. He also found the bill fiscally irresponsible. Perdue wrote, “Here in Georgia, this vote will force an additional billion dollars or more of Medicaid spending per year, requiring either a tax hike or offsetting cuts to public safety, education, and other core services of state government. While this colossal unfunded mandate cripples our budget, I am even more concerned about the debilitating impact it will have on Georgia’s small businesses.”
Baker stated that the federal government would be covering most of the additional Medicaid expenses when H.R. 4872, the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, becomes law. On the constitutionality of mandating people to buy insurance, he cited a similar challenge against the state of Massachusetts. The court found that the state’s law, similar to the new federal health care law, was constitutional.
Gov. Perdue said on Thursday he will appoint a special attorney general to file the suit since Baker has refused.
Each man is an unlikely symbol of America’s partisan divide.
Perdue is near the end of his second term, not eligible to run again. On some issues he has taken a hands-off approach. He has not always sided with Georgia’s predominantly Republican Legislature. He twice vetoed proposed tax cuts. He and his wife are foster parents, and as such he has focused on the needs of children in state custody.
Baker, a black Democrat, famously supported prosecutors in the case of Genarlow Wilson, a black teenager labeled as a sexual offender and jailed after a consensual encounter. Baker also urged black Democrats to accept the state’s voter ID law. He is running for governor in a crowded field which includes former Gov. Roy Barnes, who won a “Profile in Courage” award for working to remove the Confederate Battle Flag from Georgia’s state flag. Supporters of the current flag campaigned against Barnes and for Perdue. They expressed disappointment when Perdue did not restore the old flag.
