SO HIS TEMPLATE IS A GUTTED BILL THAT DIED AND AN EXECUTIVE TOSSED FROM OFFICE?:

In Illinois, a Similar Fight Tested a Future President (Michael D. Shear and Ceci Connolly, 9/09/09, Washington Post)

Even with all of his concessions, Obama still faced opposition to the watered-down measure. On May 19, 2004, as the legislative session in Springfield drew to a close, Republican Sen. Pete Roskam derided Obama's bill as "socialized medicine" and "a bill with an agenda." [...]

Obama's speech that night barely acknowledged how his original vision for universal health coverage had evaporated. "So what I've done," he said, winding down, "is I've put together a bill that suggests, let's all sit down and actually try to figure out how to solve a problem."

When the roll was called, the tally was 31 to 26. Obama's bill had passed.

The task force created by the legislation recommended that the state aim to cover 90 percent of the uninsured by requiring everyone to buy insurance and offering subsidies to those who couldn't afford it. Many of those changes were embraced in proposals offered by then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D).

Those hopes remain unfulfilled. The cost of the proposals and the governor's personal scandals doomed them, leaving Illinois residents to wait with the rest of the country as Obama pursues similar goals once again.