Contacts:
Bill G. Smith, 608-255-6083
Jack Mozloom, 609-989-8777
Wisconsin Small Business Says Ruling is Encouraging
WASHINGTON, D.C., December 13, 2010 — Karen Harned, executive director of the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center, and Bill G. Smith, NFIB Wisconsin State Director, issued the following statement on federal district court Judge Henry Hudson’s decision declaring the federal healthcare law unconstitutional:
“NFIB is pleased with Judge Hudson’s decision in the Virginia case because it demonstrates that this law that promises to be an enormous burden to small businesses is fundamentally unconstitutional. Judge Hudson recognized that the individual mandate provision that would force Americans to purchase government-approved health insurance or pay a fine is unconstitutional and gives Congress too much authority over the decisions made by individuals. Congress lacks the authority to regulate what products and services citizens must purchase. The individual mandate and the entire healthcare law should be struck down for these reasons.
“Moving forward, we expect this important constitutional question to be further debated and litigated through the courts. This Thursday, the case brought by NFIB and 20 states will be argued before federal judge Roger Vinson in Pensacola, Florida. We believe our diverse group of plaintiffs which includes 20 states, a national business advocacy group and individuals, presents the strongest case for standing to sue the government over this law. And since standing is an issue that can be raised at anytime from the district level all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, we are confident that our involvement will be crucial to presenting arguments on this constitutional question to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“Judge Hudson’s decision is one more reason why we are cautiously optimistic that Judge Vinson will strike down the individual mandate and uphold our Constitution. We are hopeful that Judge Vinson will additionally prevent the government from enforcing the healthcare law until the outcome of this case is resolved by the Supreme Court.” NFIB State Director Bill G. Smith said Wisconsin small businesses should be buoyed by the decision.
“We are encouraged by the judge’s decision in Virginia because it has obvious implications for our case,” said Smith. “We believe that the federal government has no authority to force individual small business owners, or for that matter any private citizen, to enter into a contract for commercial services.
“In addition to the enormous financial and regulatory burdens it places on small businesses, the law concentrates in the hands of federal bureaucrats and politicians far too much power over individual autonomy,” he continued. “We are very optimistic that the judge in our case will make a similar finding based on the case that we have presented on behalf of small business owners in Wisconsin and throughout the country.”
Oral arguments in our case are scheduled for Dec. 16. For more information visit http://www.nfib.com/hclawsuit.
