Bill Text: MO HCR30 | 2011 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Urges the Governor and Attorney General to send a letter to the President of the United States expressing the urgency of resolving the constitutionality of the federal health care reform act
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2011-04-11 - Referred: Rules, Joint Rules, Resolutions and Ethics (S) [HCR30 Detail]
Download: Missouri-2011-HCR30-Introduced.html
FIRST REGULAR SESSION
House Concurrent Resolution No. 30
96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCED BY REPRESENTATIVES FREDERICK (Sponsor), JONES (89), LICHTENEGGER, WHITE, FITZWATER, BERRY, BRATTIN, JOHNSON, FRANKLIN, McCAHERTY, McNARY, CROSS, LONG, THOMSON, RUZICKA, SMITH (150), PARKINSON, MOLENDORP, HOSKINS, SCHIEBER AND SOLON (Co-sponsors).
WHEREAS, the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), also known as ObamaCare, has been ruled unconstitutional in its entirety by the Florida Federal District Court, and the individual mandate contained in the PPACA requiring the purchase of insurance was ruled unconstitutional by Judge Henry Hudson in Federal District Court in Virginia; and
WHEREAS, the President of the United States, while addressing the issue of an individual mandate to purchase health insurance as a United States Senator in 2008, stated that "If a mandate was the solution, we can try that to solve homelessness by mandating everybody to buy a house."; and
WHEREAS, in the August 2010 primary election, the citizens of Missouri have expressed their clear opposition to the individual mandate by passing Missouri Health Care Freedom, Proposition C by a 71% margin; and
WHEREAS, each house of the Missouri General Assembly has requested that the Governor and the Attorney General of the State of Missouri join in the legal challenge to the PPACA, so far to no avail; and
WHEREAS, considerable time, effort, and money has been, are being, and will continue to be expended attempting to comply with the mandates of the PPACA, which may ultimately be wasted time, energy, and money if the PPACA is subsequently found by the United States Supreme Court to be unconstitutional; and
WHEREAS, the federal Court of Appeals process can be protracted and may well take up to two years for this issue to work its way through the appellate process and then ultimately to the United States Supreme Court; and
WHEREAS, such a lengthy delay of a final determination by the United States Supreme Court regarding the constitutionality of the PPACA would be extremely harmful to the State of Missouri and will cause substantial waste of state resources at a time when such resources are scarce; and
WHEREAS, allowing the waste of substantial amounts of state resources and uncertainty to continue when clarity could be provided is not good stewardship on the part of any elected state official:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the House of Representatives of the Ninety-sixth General Assembly, First Regular Session, the Senate concurring therein, hereby urge the Governor and Attorney General of the State of Missouri to send a letter to the President of the United States informing him of the urgency with which they view the need for a prompt resolution to the constitutional questions that have arisen regarding the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and further urge the President to take all actions within his powers to facilitate a hearing of this constitutional question by the United States Supreme Court at the earliest possible time; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Chief Clerk of the Missouri House of Representatives be instructed to prepare properly inscribed copies of this resolution for Governor Jay Nixon, Attorney General Chris Koster, and President Barack Obama.
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