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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Eye On Boise

Otter vetoes final version of nullification bill

Gov. Butch Otter has vetoed HB 298, the final version of a much-debated legislative effort to "nullify" the federal health care reform law; the bill declared that Idaho wouldn't comply with discretionary provisions of the law for one year, made various declarations, and prohibited the state from accepting federal money to implement the federal law. Here's a link to the bill. An earlier version that sought to declare the national law void passed the House despite two Idaho attorney general's opinions warning that it violated both the U.S. and Idaho constitutions and lawmakers' oath of office; after that bill died in a Senate committee, HB 298, variously described as "grandson of nullification," "nullification-lite" and the "watered-down" version, passed both houses.



Betsy Z. Russell
Betsy Z. Russell joined The Spokesman-Review in 1991. She currently is a reporter in the Boise Bureau covering Idaho state government and politics, and other news from Idaho's state capital.

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