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BREAKING NEWS – North Dakota Senate passes health care nullification bill

By on February 18, 2011 in Nullification

BISMARCK, N.D. – In a surprising turnaround, the North Dakota Senate passed a health care nullification bill on Friday.

Nullification appeared dead after the Human Services Committee voted 3-1 to oppose SB2309. But Sen. Dick Dever (R-Bismarck) overcame the committee recommendation with a passionate speech on the Senate floor.

“He spoke beautifully without notes except for quoting the Tenth Amendment,” Sen. Margaret Sitte (R-Bismarck), a bill co-sponsor said.

The revised version of SB2309 passed 27-19.


The bill was significantly altered and somewhat watered down, but retained the spirit of nullification. And it opens the door for the North Dakota legislature to take further steps to prevent implementation of the federal health care act in the state.

  1. The legislative assembly declares that the federal laws known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [Pub . L. 111 - 148] and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 [Pub . L. 111 - 152] are not authorized by the United States Constitution and violate its true meaning and intent as given by the founders and ratifiers.
  2. The legislative assembly shall consider enacting any measure necessary to prevent the enforcement of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 within this state.

The Tenth Amendment Center formulated the model legislation upon which the original North Dakota bill was based, and the Center pitched in with some intellectual muscle during process, providing lawmakers with information on the historical and philosophical basis for nullification.

TAC communications director Mike Maharrey said he was thrilled with the legislative victory, even though the final bill ended up somewhat altered.

“We really thought this was dead in the water. But Sen. Sitte, Sen. Dever and the other supporters of nullification refused to give up,” he said. “It’s really exciting to see elected officials fight so hard. They did exactly what James Madison envisioned – interposed on behalf of the people of North Dakota and said, ‘No!’ to unconstitutional federal overreach. I hope their tenacity and boldness serves as an example for lawmakers in other states.”

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The Tenth Amendment Center has released the Federal Health Care Nullification Act, which directly nullifies the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act” on a state level. Click here to learn more about the bill. CLICK HERE to track the Nullification Act in states around the country.

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6 comments
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Wessia
Wessia

Nullification is a joke and 200 years fo judicial interpretation has made it so. What another colossal waste of time by state legislators.

Carol
Carol

Go North Dakota!!! Good for you. Here in Illinois we will never do that. The corruption in this state covers us up to our eyeballs. Pity...but we'll keep up the good fight and back states like yours.

Leta
Leta

IMPEACH OBAMA!

Mike Maharrey
Mike Maharrey

Nullification is not about secession.

In fact, quite the opposite. Nullification gives the people, through their states, a way to roll back federal overreach short of rebellion or armed violence. It's a safety valve WITHIN the constitutional system, not something to wreck it. As Judge Abel P. Upshure argues in perhaps the best defense of nullification written, it is how we "arrest the progress of evil." Not run away from it.

"Secession, so far from being a form of resistance to usurped power, is the precise reverse; it is neither more or less than a running away from the oppressor."

We are not about destroying the Union. It has its benefits and purposes. We are about restoring the Republic to the vision of its founders, about restoring the proper constitutional balance between the state and federal governments.

"It is not designed to put down the federal government - nor embarrass or impede its legitimate operation, but simply to prevent it from exercising a power which does not belong to it," Upsure wrote in 1833.

I think people who seriously advocate secession should look at their state legislatures and seriously contemplate what they'd end up with. But I digress.

Over the last year, we've seen a drastic change in the landscape in the U.S. People are talking about the Constitution. Two states have passed nullification legislation in one chamber of their legislature. We have lawmakers seriously working to lay claim to their state's sovereignty. We are at the beginning of a wave. I am optimistic that with hard work, we can restore the Republic. It's nowhere near time to talk about destroying it.

You save the final option until you run out of options. We're not there yet.

redpens
redpens

If more states pass nullification legislation, and don't lose their nerve, Obamacare will be dead. Don't send money to the feds anymore, the states need to remind the feds we created the federal government, not the other way around. I've heard that 4 states are looking at coining their own money. Can secession be far behind?

trailblazer7
trailblazer7

One doesn't have to say the word "secession" very loud these days in Texas--you will hear more responses in the affirmative than not. What was once whispered in secret among so-called fringe groups is now politely mentioned in dinner conversations. No one dares shout "Secede!" for fear of causing a riot. ( of the celebratory nature ) ________ Ilegal aliens are streaming in every day, though we have no jobs for them. A full blown war is raging just south of the border between the NarcoGangs and the Mexican Army, which to date--has killed more people in the last two years than the U.S. casualties of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars combined. We have had our fill of the disaster area known as the Obama administration. ObamaCare only exascerbates these other problems, as employers contemplate paying the fine, rather than be compliant and spend even more money for the same coverage.

Trackbacks

  1. Health Care ~ You Decide! – Pensacola Tenth Amendment Center says:
    February 24, 2011 at 10:44 am

    [...] NORTH DAKOTA: “The Tenth Amendment Center formulated the model legislation upon which the original North Dakota bill was based, and the Center pitched in with some intellectual muscle during process, providing lawmakers with information on the historical and philosophical basis for nullification.” “Nullification appeared dead after the Human Services Committee voted 3-1 to oppose SB2309. But Sen. Dick Dever (R-Bismarck) overcame the committee recommendation with a passionate speech on the Senate floor.“He spoke beautifully without notes except for quoting the Tenth Amendment,” Sen. Margaret Sitte (R-Bismarck), a bill co-sponsor said.The revised version of SB2309 passed 27-19.The bill was significantly altered and somewhat watered down, but retained the spirit of nullification. And it opens the door for the North Dakota legislature to take further steps to prevent implementation of the federal health care act in the state.” Click here to see whole article [...]