The House version of a bill which would launch a challenge to Obamacare cleared the House Insurance Committee at the Louisiana legislature by a narrow 5-4 vote this morning.

The bill, authored by Rep. Kirk Talbot (R-River Ridge), will now go to the Civil Law and Procedure Committee for review. A similar bill, SB 26 authored by Sen. A.G. Crowe (R-Slidell), is making its way through the state senate.

As it is a constitutional amendment, HB 94 will need 70 of 105 votes in the state House of Representatives.

The hearing for the bill produced fireworks between Talbot and Rep. Juan LaFonta (D-New Orleans). LaFonta, who is in a race with state Sen. Cedric Richmond for the Democrat nomination to challenge Republican Congressman Joseph Cao this fall in Louisiana’s 2nd District, disparaged Talbot’s bill as nothing more than a gimmick to burnish Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal’s record in advance of a speculative 2012 presidential run.

Talbot was ready for that line, and delivered a counterpunch which left LaFonta spluttering.

“There may be folks running for president, but there’s also folks running for Congress.”