When the Democrats expanded their majority to 22 seats in the 40-member Senate in early January, progressives breathed a sigh of relief. After eight years of moderate Democratic governors, a left-of-center state Senate would be the only bulwark against our new conservative executive and a broad GOP majority in the House of Delegates, right?
Well…no.
Yesterday, the chamber passed three bills—with five Democrats voting in the affirmative—that would forbid the government from requiring any Virginian to purchase health insurance. Clearly, this was aimed at the individual mandate component of the federal healthcare reform bill, which is predicated on the theory that in order for insurance premiums to be kept low, everyone—young, old, healthy, ill—needs to buy into the system to smooth consumption of healthcare.
Now, in the event that Congress does pass the bill with this mandate intact, it will actually invalidate Virginia’s law under a little-used, obscure provision of the Constitution known as the supremacy clause. So, since the bill is a non-starter (it would be nullified if healthcare passes, it need not be invoked if healthcare fails), one can only assume that this was a symbolic gesture by the legislature. Republicans want to reaffirm their Tea Party, states’ rights credentials; Democrats in swing districts fear they might get blamed for action at the federal level; and conservatives of both parties want to send a message to the six Virginia Democrats in Congress who voted for healthcare reform.
As freshman Rep. Gerry Connolly said, these guys aren’t “mak[ing] it easier.” No, they aren’t. And to paraphrase Vice President Biden, I’m not so sure what a blessing 22 votes is. If the General Assembly wants to increase access to healthcare for Virginians on their own terms, they should do so proactively through regulatory reforms, subsidies, and expansion of government safety-net programs. Wasting time on this type of posturing—when done by either party at all levels of government—is just silly self-absorption.





