The 83rd session of the Texas legislature will deal with ObamaCare. State Sen. Donna Campbell (R-25) filed a bill Thursday that would “create a firewall against the unconstitutional encroachment of the federal government against our great State.” The liberty-minded Republican’s bill, SJR 5, “would prohibit any State agency or elected official from penalizing or discouraging the right of a Texan to not purchase health insurance. If passed by two-thirds of both chambers of the legislature and approved by voters in November, the legislation would create a right in the Texas Constitution to purchase or decline health insurance without penalty or sanction or threat of penalty or sanction.”
Dr. Campbell’s bill appears to have the support of powerful Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Dewhurst presides over the state’s senate. “I am very concerned about the federal government’s rapid expansion and attempts to impost its will on the states,” Dewhurst says in the Campbell press release. “Here in Texas, we will never concede our freedom to Washington. We believe that government exists to empower people, not rule over them. Texas will continue to fight for the repeal of Obamacare, an unconstitutional and unfunded federal mandate that forces individuals to buy health insurance, and any other unconstitutional requirements for individuals to purchase insurance.”
Campbell’s bill would not directly overturn the mandate, but would prohibit the use of the state attorney general’s office to garnish wages by the federal government to extract penalties in ObamaCare. State Attorney General Greg Abbott is a longtime foe of ObamaCare himself, having been party to suits that have attempted to overturn it.
Sen. Campbell is a freshman in the Texas legislature. Her district covers much of central Texas including parts of Austin going south to toward San Antonio. She hammered the Democratic candidate for the seat by more than 30 points in the November elections. She is a practicing emergency room physician.
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