Tennessee Senate passes bill resisting federal health care reform

Using an unusual parliamentary maneuver, the Tennessee Senate just approved a bill that would instruct the state attorney general to sue the federal government if it penalizes any person for failing to buy health insurance.

The Senate actually approved a similar measure earlier this year, but that bill failed in the House last week. Republican senators successfully moved today to rewrite another proposal to do what the earlier bill would have done, rejecting the federal health care reform bill that Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed into law in March.

The vote was 22-9, with some Democrats joining Republicans in favor. The House still has to vote on the bill. Attorney General Robert Cooper has said federal law would trump any state law on health care.