Here’s the story, from the Bismarck Tribune:

Angered by a federal health care law that most of them despise, North Dakota House Republicans defeated legislation Thursday to give state officials authority over a health insurance marketing agency that the law requires states to establish.

(Correction: ObamaCare does not require states to create an Exchange.)

They said endorsing state administration of the agency, which is called a health insurance exchange, would be tantamount to approving the federal health reform law itself.

“I certainly am not going to legitimize Obamacare with my vote,” said Rep. Wes Belter, R‑Fargo. “We, as a state of North Dakota, need to follow some of the other states who have said no… It is the law, but the fight should not be over.”

Supporters … said Thursday’s vote was the state’s last realistic chance for running its own exchange, since deadlines are looming and the Legislature does not meet again until January 2013…

After a debate that lasted almost two hours, representatives voted 64–30 late Thursday to reject the legislation. All but 10 of the House’s 69 Republicans voted against the bill, while 20 of its 25 Democrats supported it…

Opponents of the bill said they resented the pressure, which they said was caused by unrealistic deadlines in the federal health care law.

Rep. Keith Kempenich, R‑Bowman, compared the situation to high-pressure sales tactics in a used car lot.

“If the federal government was really sincere on trying to reform health care, they wouldn’t have put these artificial dates in,” Kempenich said. “Whenever I’ve seen things that get rushed like this, or they get where you’re pressured like this, usually, they’re full of it, and that’s what this is starting to look like.”

Kudos to the North Dakota Policy Council’s Brett Narloch.