McHose reintroduces health care nullification bill in N.J.

New Jersey Assemblywoman Allison Littell McHose (R- Sussex) has resubmitted a bill that would nullify the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act in the Garden State.

McHose proposed the legislation late in the 2011 legislative session, but it never got out of committee. The newly filed bill, A861, “renders the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pub.L.111-148, as amended by the federal Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010, Pub.L.111-152, and any federal rules and regulations adopted pursuant thereto, null and void and of no force and effect in the State of New Jersey.”

A861 not only voids the insurance mandate, the focus of most health care freedom legislation and legal action. It takes the next step and declares the entire act null and void within the state of New Jersey. The bill itself provides the rational for nullification, based on the Tenth Amendment.

“The assumption of power that the federal government has made by enacting the ‘Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’ interferes with the right of the people of the State of New Jersey to regulate health care as they see fit, and makes a mockery of James Madison’s assurance in Number 45 of the Federalist Papers that the “powers delegated” to the federal government are ‘few and defined,’ while those of the states are ‘numerous and indefinite.’”

A861 also has teeth. It would provide for a fine of $500 to $1,000 and a prison term of up to two years for any state official or employee convicted of attempting to enforce any provision of the health care act.

In 2011, the bill met with fierce opposition and opponents predictably linked the principle of nullification to slavery. McHose addressed the smear in a piece she wrote last July.

“My ancestors, one of whom died fighting for the Union in the Civil War, would have approved of nullification when it was used to combat the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850. This horrible federal law, called the “bloodhound law” by opponents of slavery, allowed the capture and return of escaped slaves even in states where slavery had been abolished.”

A851 was introduced Jan. 10 and referred to Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee.

To track health care nullification legislation across the U.S. click HERE.