Bill Text: AZ HCM2001 | 2010 | Forty-ninth Legislature 8th Special | Engrossed
Bill Title: Health care reform.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 31-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2010-03-31 - House Committee of the Whole action: Do Pass Amended [HCM2001 Detail]
Download: Arizona-2010-HCM2001-Engrossed.html
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House Engrossed |
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State of Arizona House of Representatives Forty-ninth Legislature Eighth Special Session 2010
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HOUSE CONCURRENT MEMORIAL 2001 |
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A concurrent MEMORIAL
declaring this state's sovereignty under the united states constitution and urging the congress of the united states to repeal the patient protection and affordable care act and the health care and education reconciliation act of 2010.
(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)
To the Congress of the United States:
Your memorialist respectfully represents:
Whereas, the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows: "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people"; and
Whereas, the 10th Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the United States Constitution and no more; and
Whereas, the scope and power defined by the 10th Amendment means that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be the agent of the states; and
Whereas, for many years, the states have been demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government; and
Whereas, many federal mandates are directly in violation of the 10th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and
Whereas, the United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States, 505 U.S. 144 (1992), that Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the states; and
Whereas, Congress has never required citizens to purchase a good or service simply as a consequence of residing in the United States; and
Whereas, Congress has created many entitlement programs that rely on voluntary participation and funding from the states, including Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program; and
Whereas, state decisions to participate in the Medicaid program were made in the context of program requirements for coverage of specific populations and options for state flexibility; and
Whereas, with the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 ("the Acts"), congressional action has considerably changed the requirements of the Medicaid program, including enacting substantial new state spending obligations and curtailing state decision-making; and
Whereas, these changes have effectively terminated the Medicaid partnership between the federal government and the states, rendering states in essence a taxing and administrative arm of the federal government; and
Whereas, the limitations on state flexibility affect Arizona more than most other states due to its prior decisions to expand Medicaid coverage to populations that previously were optional under federal law; and
Whereas, these recent federal decisions do not take into account the severe decline in revenue experienced by Arizona and many other states in recent years; and
Whereas, Medicaid takes up an increasing share of the state's budget, and limits on Arizona's ability to manage its Medicaid program will result in reductions in other essential government services such as education and public safety; and
Whereas, a decision to not participate in the underlying Medicaid program would have an acute and lasting economic impact on Arizona's health care system; and
Whereas, the Acts subject other state-administered health care programs for employees and retirees to new restrictions and coverage mandates; and
Whereas, states will be responsible for establishing and operating exchanges; and
Whereas, over the next ten years, the Acts will require Arizona to fund nearly $12 billion in Medicaid costs alone.
Wherefore your memorialist, the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, the Senate concurring, prays:
1. That the United States Congress introduce and enact legislation that repeals the Acts.
2. That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona transmit copies of this Memorial to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and each Member of Congress from the State of Arizona.
