AG Says Lawmakers Playing Politics with Resolution

Associated Press

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Attorney General Drew Edmondson says Republican legislative leaders are playing politics with a resolution that would direct him to challenge a new federal health care law.

Edmondson said Friday lawmakers should pass the resolution if they are serious about it and stop criticizing him for not voluntarily filing a lawsuit to block the federal law. The resolution is pending in the Oklahoma House.

Edmondson, a Democratic candidate for governor, announced last week that he would not challenge the constitutionality of a law that requires Americans to purchase health care insurance. He said then that the lawsuit had little chance of success.

But Edmondson says he will add the state's name to a lawsuit filed by other attorneys general in Florida if ordered to by the Legislature.