Missouri Votes to Block Health Care Reform

Missouri residents have voted to block a portion of President Obama's health care reform. In a vote seen as largely symbolic, 73% of voters approved a state law saying Missouri can't penalize people for not having health insurance. The law is unlikely to have any practical effect because the relevant portion of the federal health measure won't take effect until 2014, by which time experts believe federal courts will either have upheld it or struck it down, the New York Times reports.

"This really wasn’t an effort to poke the president in the eye,” said Republican state senator Jim Lembke. “First and foremost, this was about defining the role of state government and the role of federal government. Whether it’s here in Missouri with health care or in Arizona with illegal immigration, the states are going to get together on this now." (More Missouri stories.)