Georgia is now the 19th state to join the lawsuit against the health care reform law, filed by Florida attorney general Bill McCollum last month. Virginia filed its own lawsuit.

Georgia's Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue, like the governors of Mississippi and Nevada, sidestepped his state's Attorney General Thurbert Baker, a democrat, to join the lawsuit.

Baker rejected the lawsuit and said in a statement that the litigation "is likely to fail and will consume significant amount of taxpayers' hard-earned money in the process."

According to a New York Times article published last month, that position "has led to calls from Republican lawmakers for his impeachment." The impeachment resolution, written by Representative Mark Hatfield, said the state's Constitution required Baker to file suits at the governor's request, the Times reported.

"As the attorney general expressed previously, he's never going to back away from doing his job. In this case, providing sound legal advice," attorney general spokesman Russell Willard told DOTmed News. "He continues to perform his job that the people of Georgia elected him to do."

Perdue has appointed his own "special attorney general" to move forward with the lawsuit, says Willard. Perdue has selected Frank C. Jones as the pro bono special attorney, according to the governor's statement.

"The importance of this legal challenge demands the very best representation possible, and that is exactly what the state is receiving from Frank C. Jones," Perdue said in a statement.

The lawsuit was filed minutes after President Barack Obama signed the hotly debated health care reform bill in March. The suit argues that the law requiring citizens to purchase health insurance or pay a penalty tax is unconstitutional.

Proponents of the health care law argue that precedents will support the legislation, protected largely by the Commerce Clause, which gives the government extremely broad power when it comes to commerce.

The other 18 states on the lawsuit are Indiana, North Dakota, Mississippi, Nevada, Arizona, South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Alabama, Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Washington, Idaho and South Dakota.

Wednesday's scheduling hearing in Penascola, Fla. was the first court date in the case. A federal judge in Florida wants to fast track the case, but Senior U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson said it will take months to make its way through court, according to WOKV news station in Jacksonville, Fla.

Hearings and filing deadlines in the case are scheduled for November.

Read DOTmed's prior coverage:
www.dotmed.com/news/story/12273

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