HR0037 97TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0037 LRB097 06071 GRL 46144 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, On March 23, 2010, President Obama signed the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, H.R. 3590 (the Act) into law; and

WHEREAS, The Act mandates among other things that all citizens and legal residents of the United States have qualifying healthcare coverage or pay a tax penalty; and

WHEREAS, On March 23, 2010, Attorneys General from the following states filed suit in the United States District Court of the Northern District of Florida: Florida, South Carolina, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, Louisiana, Alabama, Michigan, Colorado, Pennsylvania, Washington, Idaho, and South Dakota (the States) against the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the United States Department of the Treasury, and the United States Department of Labor; and

WHEREAS, The suit filed by the States alleges, among other things, that:

(1) the U.S. Constitution nowhere authorizes the United States to mandate, either directly or under threat of penalty, that all citizens and legal residents have qualifying healthcare coverage;

(2) the Act exceeds the powers of the United States under Article I of the Constitution and violates the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution;

(3) the tax penalty required under the Act which must be paid by uninsured citizens and residents, constitutes an unlawful capitation or direct tax, in violation of Article I, Sections 2 and 9 of the Constitution of the United States;

(4) the Act violates the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution; and

(5) the Act violates the sovereign rights of states and their citizens' and residents' rights; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SEVENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that the Illinois House of Representatives urges the Attorney General to take steps necessary to file a suit challenging the constitutionality of the Act in order to protect the sovereign rights of the State of Illinois, as well as the State and federal constitutionally guaranteed rights of its residents and citizens; and be it further

RESOLVED, That that a copy of this resolution be delivered to the Attorney General.