changes in the statute's language, he could rewrite the law so that the State could sue the tobacco industry without the tobacco industry being able to raise the numerous defenses it had relied upon in winning the cases against it. Levin made the changes, and then approached a good friend who was the dean of the Florida Senate. The two then went to the Governor of Florida, who supported the concept. The dean of the Senate was able to get the law passed on the last day of session and at the last minute. The Senator made it part of another law that received unanimous support in the Senate, and Levin's amendments passed. When the tobacco industry discovered the true intent of the law, it began donating money to Florida senators to repeal the statute. The Senate voted to repeal it, but the Governor vetoed the repeal. The Senate then came within one vote of overriding the Governor's veto, but could not, and the law stood. After the passage of the law, John French, a lobbyist for Philip Morris USA, stated, "This is probably the single biggest issue to ever have been run through in the dead of the night." John Shebel, president of the pro-business organization Associated Industries of Florida, told the Orlando Sun-Sentinel, "This law is probably one of the worst laws ever passed by any Legislature." Walker Merryman, vice president of the Tobacco Institute, said, "It's certainly creative, and it demonstrates how a government will try to impose a significant financial burden on one portion of the economy." Gannett News Service wrote: "What they engineered was a first-of-its-kind bill making it much easier for the state to recoup money it spends for treating cancer patients and others with smoking-related diseases. ... Its created such an uproar in Tallahassee that tobacco companies have pledged millions of dollars to fight the bill either by getting it vetoed or using the upcoming special session on health care to change or eliminate it." "I could say, I think without exaggerating, that the financial life of the tobacco industry is riding on [the veto of the bill]", said John Banahaf, executive director of Action on Smoking and Health. Professor Richard Daynard of Northeastern University called the bill: "the single biggest blow against the tobacco industry and for the public health that's ever been done in the United states." Challenges to the law