Republicans in the General Assembly might have to wait until next year to take on the new federal health care law, as the legislature’s Democratic leadership has given a chilly reception to proposals allowing North Carolina to opt out of the law’s health insurance mandates.

Even if Democrats weren’t opposed to the opt-out bills, the General Assembly’s rulebook would be. New bills unrelated to the budget cannot be considered in the short session, which convened May 12, unless they meet specific criteria.

To bypass that obstacle, Republicans have introduced resolutions in the House and Senate that would suspend the rules and allow the health care legislation to be brought up. But Democratic leaders have given those ideas the cold shoulder.

“I think it’s more of a political issue than a legislative one,” said House Speaker Joe Hackney, D-Orange, at a press conference.

The bills are faring no better on the Senate side. Asked by reporters if a health care opt-out could emerge in the short session, Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare, torpedoed the idea.

“I would hope that we would not do that,” Basnight said. “We have not discussed that yet. I would not be for doing that.”

Republicans riled

That’s led to frustration from GOP lawmakers, who hoped to highlight opposition to the Democrats’ national health care policies to score political points in the midterm elections.

“It’s going to be crucial that the leadership hears from their constituency concerning how they feel about federally mandated health care. I think they will hear from them very clearly, if not now then in November,” said Sen. Debbie Clary, R-Cleveland, a primary sponsor of the Senate resolution.

Rep. Nelson Dollar, R-Wake, raised an objection that Republicans have used for years to criticize the ruling party — Democratic leaders quashing debate.

“The fundamental problem we have is that you’ve got very liberal leadership that is not willing to allow these issues to be fully vetted in the legislative process,” Dollar said.

Aside from the resolutions, only one health care-related bill has been introduced — a proposed constitutional amendment that would allow individuals, businesses, and health care providers to opt out of the federal government’s health insurance mandates and penalties.

If passed, voters would have a direct say on whether the amendment becomes law by voting it up or down in a referendum this November.

Republicans, already feeling the wind at their backs in an anti-incumbent year, hope to feed off widespread public opposition to the mandates. A Rasmussen Reports poll released Monday found 56 percent favor repealing the law with 39 percent opposed, numbers largely unchanged since Congress passed the legislation in March.

Even so, voters care little about what they don’t know. Burying the bill in committee, as opposed to allowing a vote, can prevent the issue from gaining political traction, said N.C. State Political Science Professor Steven Greene.

“You don’t get the kind of coverage that would drive opinions because there aren’t votes on it,” he said.

Other efforts

Last month, Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat, declined to join a multistate lawsuit that seeks to overturn the health care mandates as unconstitutional. Twenty states have joined the suit so far.

“I think that the attorney general has made a decision that is sound based on the law not to join in,” Hackney said. “If he is wrong, then the decisions in other states will control what happens in North Carolina as well.”

Local governments also have taken up the issue. In April, the Duplin County Board of Commissioners passed two resolutions on the health care law.

One called on Cooper join the suit; the other asks the General Assembly to call for a constitutional convention and propose amendments protecting the freedom to choose health care. Chowan County passed a similar resolution earlier this month.

“I do not want the government to interfere with my private health decisions, and I think this is an attempt to regulate what should be a private family issue,” said Duplin County Commissioner David Fussell.

David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal. Associate Editor Anthony Greco contributed reporting to this story.