For the first time, a bill repealing the Affordable Care Act will hit President Obama’s desk, but members of both parties recognize that the law isn’t going away while he’s in office.

By some counts, this was the 62nd time the U.S. House voted to repeal the act known as Obamacare. U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) feels it’s a move to help the Republican presidential field, saying as long as Obama is president, they’re not going to repeal Obamacare.

U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis (R-Taylorville) knows this particular bill will die with Obama’s veto, but he argues there is a larger purpose to passing it, saying it’s their chance to make him have to prove to the American people why he thinks Obamacare is so successful in his mind, while the facts don’t substantiate that.

The Congressional Budget Office has said repealing most of the Affordable Care Act’s mandates and taxes, as the current attempt aims to do, would reduce the deficit by about $516 billion over the next 10 years. The CBO also says it would leave 22 million people without health insurance and drive up premiums.

In other State news, if you want to smile, just drive to the nearest gas station.

AAA Chicago spokeswoman Beth Mosher said the state ended December just under the $2 mark, which is down about 17 cents from the previous month and down 54 cents from that time last year.

Right now, the national average is $1.99 Gasoline averages $2.34 in Chicago, $2.17 in the Chicago metro area, and Downstate prices range from $1.76 in Danville to $1.91 in Rockford, Quincy, and Bloomington-Normal.

Mosher says the latest AAA research, though, shows gasoline is only about 19 percent of the cost to own and operate a car.