Lugar: "Is the Insurance Requirement Constitutional?"

Senator Richard Lugar has requested that Indiana's attorney general (and fellow Republican) Greg Zoeller to render an opinion on the constitutionality of fining citizens who do not purchase health insurance as would be allowed in the the health care reform bills under consideration. The Fort Wayne Journal Gazette reports that Lugar made the request of Zoeller because the Senate vote on "constitutional questions" came came just five days after the text of the bill was released, so there was no time to study the questions. (This despite the fact that the so-called "personal mandate" has been part of the bills in both houses that have been under discussion for many, many months.) The Gazette also notes the legal basis of Lugar's request of his state's attorney general: "Indiana law allows the attorney general to make 'any reasonable or appropriate investigation or study' of federal legislation when asked to do so by a member of the congressional delegation." Read more about Sen. Lugar's request here.