Kansas Sovereignty Coalition: House to Act on Health Care Freedom Amendment Tomorrow
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TOMORROW MORNING
ON THE FLOOR OF THE KANSAS HOUSE
THE HEALTH CARE FREEDOM AMENDMENT IS DEBATED
FILL THE GALLERY AND ENTRY TO THE FLOOR!
The U.S. House of Representatives in Washington just passed their version of Obama-care.
And by now most everyone knows the Kansas Senate Judiciary Committee decided on
Friday to leave us vulnerable by defeating SCR-1626.
So we must converge tomorrow on the State Capitol as the House version of the State
Constitutional amendment, HCR-5032 is being acted on in the Kansas House.
The session starts at 9:00 a.m. on the 3rd floor. The Health Care Freedom Amendment
is at the top of the agenda.
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Kansas Liberty: 19 March 2010
Chairman’s vote decided the fate of SCR 1626
Republicans on the left help defeat Health Care Freedom Amendment
Click here to read the article [http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1103219995663&s=42&e=0012nwKkCu2Wrgafk-2gWv0i4SYS7av4_S4XCE_rVj4WuB_Mm9DniZeKy3tEFilgx3D6HaRZH68WrCmqfkntMAjykTUBdJdc8tgLT9NlF0u_YB58FTVxgv3Xv-ILxpniejBSlniuOXKE2cym4lwUU3NNjvw9t5vTltqRp7ycijma6C9NWIbRef7ISlJCrVq02AwPdka4UzEXF0CFD8Qyg8J7atK96vnpxgwIkF_lJ5kYfU=]
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Below is an email from Senator Lynn summarizing last week’s defeat of SCR-1626:
Here’s my version of what happened.
I was appointed to the Senate Judiciary subcommittee to study constitutional issues
by request of the Chairman, Sen. Owens. Other members included: Chair Sen Vratil,
Sen. Kelly, Sen Bruce.
The sub-committee held a hearing about early last week where two constitutional
experts testified as well as someone fromMissouri who is heading up the same issue
on the part of Missouri Advocates. Kris Koboch and a professor from KU Law were
the constitutional experts. Two major unresolved questions emerged after questioning:
the power of Congress and the interpretation of interstate commerce as interpreted
by the Supreme court. One major point was confirmed: even if Kansas had the Amendment
in place it could be super ceded by acts of congress – in other words, in this case
the Federal Government has power over the States. This would, from a practical
standpoint, render the Amendment as “symbolic” with no real ” teeth.” I asked
the both professors how the grievance process would work if Obama care passed and
we had the Amendment in place. The answer was that it would be litigated through
the court systems and if successful, the Kansas Attorney General would be given
authority to represent the State and individuals in a lawsuit against the Federal
Government. This language is NOT in the Amendment and did cause me some concern.
The Judiciary sub-committee met this past Thursday for Final Action. In the meantime,
I had met with Sen. Pilcher Cook and Sen. Bruce to develop a strategy for the meeting.
It was decided that in order to save the Amendment we could make the motion to
have the language put in statue. That attempt was made in sub-committee, and I
brought up the Attorney General issue as a part of the statute. The motion failed
on a tie vote. Sen. Kelly then made a motion to put the Amendment into Resolution
form. The motion passed. This was the last resort. Even though the Resolution
kept the issue alive it lost all its power as it is merely an instrument to send
a “message” to Congress on our wishes as a State.
Sen. Pilcher Cook then approached the Chairman to ask that the sub-committee
action be reconsidered. Sen. Owens concurred. Sen. Owens garnered agreement
with Senate Leadership to put the bill back in Judiciary. The final Judiciary committee
of the current legislative year was held Friday for the sole purpose of reconsideration
of 1626 and 468 (the Grand Jurybill) .
Sen. Bruce asked Sen. Owens if there was a House bill that could be used as a vehicle
to “gut and go” – to strip the contents of a House Bill and replace it with the
contents of the Resolution minus the language involving the constitutional amendment
and the citizen vote. The Judiciary Legal Counsel indicated that the exact language
of the bill was already in place and it would be simple to convert to the House
Bill. Sen. Schodorf then asked how the language would affect our ability to receive
Federal Medicare and Medicaid funds for the elderly and disabled. It was unclear
as to how this language would effect that. A vote was then taken to gut the House
Bill and replace it with the language of the Resolution minus the language involving
the Constitutional Amendment and citizen vote. It passed. Those voting yes:
Sen. Donovan, Sen. Pilcher Cook, Sen. Bruce, Sen. Lynn, and Sen. Schmidt. Those
voting no: Sen. Owen, Sen .Schodorf, Sen. Vratil, Sen. Kelly and Sen. Umbarger.
After the vote, Sen. Owens expressedgrave concern that the committee was being
asked to pass out a new bill that : 1. We didn’t have exact language in front
of us and: 2. The language did not have a hearing. He then expressed as Chairman
of Judiciary, his responsibility to follow proper committee process he did and in
this case, the proper process was not followed. He also expressed grave concern
that a Constitutional Amendment was a serious concern and a last minute attempt
to codify language that had not been vetted was not a process he could support.
He then called for a vote to pass out the new House Bill. It failed on a 5-5
vote with those votes being cast exactly as above.
468, the Grand Jury bill was tabled on the request of Sen. Picher Cook. The vote
was unanimous.
I hope this helps. You have my permission to forward this to your lists.
Sen. Julia Lynn
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mail@kansastenthamendment.com [mailto:mail@kansastenthamendment.com]
Kansas Sovereignty Coalition | PO Box 445 | Tonganoxie | KS | 66086
Related Posts:
- Mary Pilcher-Cook on State Sovereignty: Senate Judiciary Health Care Freedom Amendment hearing
- Sen. Mary Pilcher-Cook on State Sovereignty: House Judiciary Committee hearing this week
- Kansas Sovereignty Coalition — SCR 1626 Action Update
- Months later, Brownback Signs Petition for Health Care Amendment
- State GOP approves of judicial nomination change
