UPDATE: Opting Out

Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid says states will be allowed to opt out of the health reform plan he wants the Senate to vote on. During a news conference this afternoon, he was asked how that would work, but never got to an answer. ABC News reports:

"In theory, states that wish to opt out of the public plan would have to adopt a law to do so, which would require agreement between the state legislature and the governor."

Here in Alabama that will create perhaps the issue of the year, and of the 2010 elections. The Legislature is majority Democratic, though the Senate (like the U.S. Senate) is a quilt of mostly Democrats with some of them willing to vote with Republicans. The Governor, right now, is Republican Bob Riley. But he's leaving office in 2010, and there will be incredible lobbying pressure on the candidates from both parties to take one side or another in the opting out issue. [UPDATE ON THIS UPDATE: The NY Times reports details about the opt out are slim, but the date the legislation would go into effect in the middle of the then newly elected Alabama's Governor's term:

Mr. Reid’s aides provided few details about how the opt-out provision would work. They said that the public plan would be national in scope and that it would be available on the first day that the major provisions of the health care legislation go into effect, which is now expected to be July. 1, 2013.

Let the campaigning begin!]