More than 500 State Legislators From All 50 States File Amicus Brief Defending Constitutionality of Health Care Reform Law

Washington, DC – In a brief filed at the U.S. Supreme Court today by Constitutional Accountability Center, more than 500 state representatives and senators from every state in the Union – plus Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia – have signed on to defend the Affordable Care Act, grounded in the Constitution’s text and history and the views of its Framers, including George Washington and Alexander Hamilton.

Doug Kendall, President of Constitutional Accountability Center, said, “The Affordable Care Act has the Constitution’s text and history on its side. It has the nation’s Founders on its side. It has Supreme Court precedent on its side. It has two of the most conservative appellate judges in America on its side. And now it has more than 500 state legislators from every State in America on its side.” CAC Chief Counsel Elizabeth Wydra added, “For months, conservatives have pretended that there was only one view of the health care reform law at the state level, and that was the warped tea party view. Today that pretense is destroyed. No longer do the Act’s challengers have a monopoly on who represents the States in this case.”

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Resources:

CAC brief amici curiae defending the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (pdf): https://www.theusconstitution.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Florida_v_HHS_Merits_Amicus_Mandate.pdf

CAC Issue Brief: “The States, Health Care Reform, and the Constitution” (pdf): https://www.theusconstitution.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/20100501_Issue_Brief_CAC_States_Health_Care_Refom_and_the_Constitution.pdf

CAC Issue Brief: “Setting the Record Straight: The Tea Party and the Constitutional Powers of the Federal Government” (pdf): https://www.theusconstitution.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Download-Setting-the-Record-Straight-Here.pdf

CAC Chief Counsel Elizabeth Wydra, “Can health ruling sink tea party?” POLITICO, November 10, 2011:http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/68086.html

CAC President Doug Kendall: “Health Care Reform: Preserving Judicial Independence in a Partisan Age,” June 3, 2011:http://www.huffingtonpost.com/doug-kendall/health-care-reform-preser_b_870988.html

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Constitutional Accountability Center (www.theusconstitution.org) is a think tank, public interest law firm, and action center dedicated to fulfilling the progressive promise of the Constitution’s text and history.

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