Pawlenty plans to sue over federal health care law
Gov. Tim Pawlenty says he plans to sue over the federal health care law.
Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson yesterday rejected Pawlenty's request to file a lawsuit. The DFL attorney general told the Republican governor he could file his own friend-of-the-court brief as governor to support the lawsuit filed by 13 state attorneys general.
Pawlenty said Tuesday he may join in that lawsuit, or bring one himself.
"The federal government is now requiring citizens under penalty of a fine to buy a good or a service, and we think that's an unprecedented overreach by the federal government into the lives of individual citizens," he said.
Attorney General Swanson says a lawsuit isn't warranted because health care fits squarely within the federal government's authority to regulate interstate commerce.
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