Columbia, SC (WLTX) -- A house subcommittee has advanced a bill aimed at limiting the Affordable Care Act South Carolina.
Dozens of people packed a meeting room and halls to support the bill.
Lexington county Representative Rick Quinn says the Freedom of Health Care Protection Act would prevent state employees from enforcing the parts of the federal health care law.
He says it would also stop local governments from creating their own healthcare exchanges.
"From a philosophical perspective, our country took a major change when the congress adopted Obamacare and basically this is trying to prevent us from throwing ourselves into economic ruin by quite frankly growing these benefits to the point where we can't pay for it anymore," said Quinn.
Opponents say its too late to do take some of that action anyway, and that the bill is for show.
"It's a bill that ultimately doesn't have any effect cause we're not gonna have a state plan. There's no state agency that is gonna be doing this, and so this is all a bunch of political theatre put on for these folks, that really has no significance," said Richland County Representative James Smith.
Democrats are also criticizing the decision to use the state plane to fly conservative columnist, Walter Williams from Washington to speak at the hearing. Williams is an economics professor a George Mason University.
They say it is a frivolous use of taxpayer money.
Republican Bill Chumley says Williams was an expert witness and flying him to Columbia was official state business.
Democrats also criticized paying another speaker, Kent Brown, a Kentucky attorney, $7,500 to speak at the meeting.
Republicans say the money was for wages he missed while testifying.
The bill will now head to a full House committee.