West Virginia state House Republicans are proposing a new law that would make it a felony for anyone to enforce the health care law. In other words, any employee that would help a West Virginian get access to affordable healthcare would be committing a crime.
According to The Charleston Gazette:
In another salvo against the federal Affordable Care Act, some Republicans in West Virginia’s House of Delegates want to make it a crime for state and federal officials to enforce the health-care law.
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Under the GOP-backed bill (HB2309), federal employees would face felony charges, while state workers would be arrested for a misdemeanor offense, if they try to administer any federal regulations under the Affordable Care Act. The legislation also declares the federal health-care law “invalid” in West Virginia.
“It’s one thing to oppose the Affordable Care Act, but it’s another thing to make it a criminal act for people to do their job,” said Perry Bryant, who heads West Virginians for Affordable Health Care. “This is really an extreme piece of legislation, as extreme as anything I’ve seen this session.”
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Under the bill, federal and state officials who implement the Affordable Care Act in West Virginia could be sentenced and imprisoned for a year or more. Fines range from $1,000 to $5,000.
This is a strong contender for craziest proposed law of 2015. It will probably come as a surprise to Republicans, but they can’t declare a federal law invalid and make it crime to enforce the law. The proposed Republican bill is unconstitutional on many levels. Federal law supersedes state law. States can’t decide to make a federal law illegal, and throw people in jail who enforce it. None of this is the way that our system of government works.
A recent study found that West Virginia has benefitted the second most of any state in the country from the ACA. Naturally, the Republican response has been an attempt to criminalize the ACA.
The real criminals are Republicans in states like West Virginia, who are determined to kill their own citizens by denying them access to healthcare.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
