Calling it another “victory” against the “overstepping and overreach” of the federal government, Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder praised a federal judge in Florida who ruled that the health care law is unconstitutional.

Missouri Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder

“As I await a ruling on my lawsuit in Missouri, I am encouraged by today’s decision and the further support it gives to the claims of Missourians,” said Kinder in a prepared statement Monday.

“Judge Vinson’s ruling states what Missourians said in August, by an overwhelming vote of 71 percent, and what both houses of the Missouri legislature said this month, that the individual mandate cannot stand. We must continue to fight for our freedoms against unconstitutional government infringement.”

Judge Roger Vinson of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida struck down the federal health care law after hearing the lawsuit filed by 26 states, declaring the requirement that individuals buy health insurance is unconstitutional.

Kinder praised a similar ruling by a judge in Virginia last month.

The federal health care mandate to buy insurance does not go into effect until 2014, and as Missouri Watchdog previously reported, the ruling on whether it is constitutional will ultimately be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, most likely in 2013.

Last week, Kinder called the move by the U.S. Department of Justice to try and get his lawsuit in federal court challenging the constitutionality of the federal health care law dismissed a “desperate ploy.” Kinder, who filed his lawsuit in July, responded to the challenge by the federal government by filing a memorandum in opposition.

Kinder, a Republican, has repeatedly called on Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster, a Democrat, to file his own lawsuit in federal court or join with other states to challenge the constitutionality of the health care law.

The Missouri Senate passed a resolution urging Koster to challenge the health care law earlier this month, along with calling on him to defend the validity of Proposition C, which challenges the federal health insurance mandate and was passed by voters in August.  The Missouri House also passed a similar resolution.

Following a question by Missouri Watchdog during a press conference last week, Koster said his office is likely to do something recognizing the will of the legislature and that Missouri state law has now adopted Prop C.

“Our office has a fiduciary duty to defend Missouri law. What we do, how we do it, is something that we are actively reviewing. There’s a lot of subtleties and research that has to be gone through,” Koster said. ”We have heard what the General Assembly has said. We are listening to the people and we will not lose that moment.”

By Brian R. Hook, brhook@missouriwatchdog.org, (314) 482-7944

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