Pawlenty joins Florida lawsuit against health care reform

Gov. Tim Pawlenty filed a brief on Thursday in support of the lawsuit against the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). The suit, currently before the United States District Court for the Northern District of Florida, includes 20 states that are challenging the mandate that all Americans must have health insurance by 2014.

“‘Obamacare’ represents an unconstitutional power grab by the federal government that undermines freedom and state’s rights that needs to be stopped,” said Pawlenty. He filed the brief along with outgoing Republican Gov. Donald Carcieri of Rhode Island.

Pawlenty recently appeared on CNN to say his presidential aspiration included a repeal of health care reform.

A statement by the governor’s office read, “This is the latest effort by Governor Pawlenty to challenge the federal healthcare legislation” and noted his rejection of Medicaid expansion and “an executive order directing state agencies to decline all discretionary participation in the ACA.”

The brief says, in part:

Given their role in shaping and overseeing state appropriations and budgets, Governor Pawlenty and Governor Carcieri have a strong and distinct interest in ensuring that basic limits on the federal government’s spending power are maintained… Governors Pawlenty and Carcieri have both an immediate interest in protecting their States from the coercion of the ACA, and a longer-term interest in safeguarding Federalism against overreaching federal power. The Governors also have an obligation to their citizens to safeguard these protections against federal abuse of the spending power.