So says Stephen Northington, one of Purcell’s competitors in the race for the GOP nomination for State Insurance Commissioner.
Apparently, Purcell recently took credit for the health care proposal that State Senators Judson Hill and Chip Rogers introduced last month, claiming that they got the inspiration from something he claims to have done back in July. Given that they announced their bill on Sept 7, and Purcell claims to have originated the idea in July, it seems plausible… at first glance.
The problem is, Hill claims he was at a meeting of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) in April in Memphis when work on this bill first began – a claim that I have seen NO ONE dispute, and a claim I have no reason not to believe. Indeed, the resolution Hill’s bill is based on was adopted by ALEC’s Health and Human Services Task Force on May 1, and by the ALEC Board of Directors on June 6 – roughly a full month BEFORE Purcell claims to have originated the idea.
I’m still trying to talk to all of the players in this – I hope to talk to Northington and Purcell as well as Hill and Rogers on this issue – and I’ll update this post as I do.
After the jump, you will see both Northington’s press relase on the issue as well as the video Northington’s campaign uploaded with Purcell making the statement in question.
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