By state Sen. Mae Beavers

Published in the Tennessean on March 23, 2011

It is hard to believe that it has been an entire year since the passage into law of the 1,000-page bill that has come to be known as “Obamacare.”

It also seems that it was only during the 365 days after its passage that substantive and adequate debate about the bill occurred.

Since its passage, more than 40 state legislatures have proposed legislation to limit or directly challenge the federal law, realizing that it not only grossly overstepped Congress’ authority but that the bill would have devastating effects on state budgets, as well as the overall quality of American health care.

After forcing the mammoth bill through Congress without adequate time for legislators to read it, President Barack Obama was confronted by the American people last November. Conservatives were elected to lead not only the U.S. House but the Tennessee legislature and the governorship. At a time when we were concerned with balancing the budget, stimulating the economy and increasing jobs, the fact that our state would face $1.5 billion in increased costs and mandates over the next few years (coupled with increased costs to small business) was simply unacceptable.

Other states not only joined Tennessee in questioning the financial and medical consequences of “Obamacare,” but also in questioning the constitutionality of requiring a person to buy a product from the government or a company simply for being a citizen of this country.

The federal health insurance mandate stretches the Commerce Clause of the Constitution by granting the federal government power to regulate the doing of nothing; that is, not buying health insurance.

Twenty-six state attorneys general have joined a lawsuit challenging the law, and two federal district courts have deemed all or part of “Obamacare” unconstitutional.

Tennessee marked the anniversary of “Obamacare” when Gov. Bill Haslam signed the Tennessee Health Care Freedom Act last Friday. The act states that it is the public policy of this state that government cannot force a person to purchase a particular product, and that our constitutional freedom of choice and our access to quality health care would be protected.

In other words, when the U.S. Supreme Court eventually addresses the constitutionality of “Obamacare,” Tennessee will be on the side of over half of the states in the Union and a majority of U.S. citizens.

Declaring New Healthcare Law Unconstitutional

(NASHVILLE, TN), January 31, 2011 – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) today applauded Florida Federal District Court Judge Roger Vinson’s ruling that it was unconstitutional for Congress to enact a health care law that requires Americans to obtain commercial insurance.  Beavers is sponsor of the “Tennessee Health Freedom Act” to protect a citizen’s right to participate, or not participate, in any healthcare system, and that would prohibit the federal government from imposing fines or penalties on that person’s decision.

“Judge Vinson has appropriately followed the U.S. Constitution and ruled the federal healthcare plan as unconstitutional,” said Senator Beavers.  “He very accurately pointed out in his ruling that ‘Congress had exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the Act.’  It is time Tennessee join other states in their efforts to fight this major overstep of constitutional authority.  I will begin a push for passage of legislation to accomplish this upon the General Assembly’s return to Nashville next week.”

In his ruling, Judge Vinson said, “it would be a radical departure from existing case law to hold that Congress can regulate inactivity under the Commerce Clause.  If Congress has such power,” he continued, “it is not hyperbolizing to suggest that Congress could do almost anything it wanted.”

The Florida suit was filed by governors and attorneys general from 26 states.  In December, Federal Court Judge Henry Hudson in Richmond, Virginia also ruled the health care law was not valid.  The law will remain in place, under both court rulings, pending appeals.

Beavers has also sponsored legislation this year calling for Tennessee to join an interstate compact with the express purpose of returning the responsibility and authority for regulating health care to the states.   The Health Care Compact provides a legal framework in which states can create their own healthcare systems.

“We cannot allow Congress to trample on states’ rights and the personal liberties guaranteed by our federal Constitution,” added Beavers.  “We must push back on this unprecedented abuse of power or there will be no limits on federal authority in the future.”

The decision by Vinson will now head to the 11^th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta, Georgia, while the Richmond, Virginia case is set for oral arguments in the 4^th Circuit Court of Appeals in May.

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Mt. Juliet, TN – This week, Sen. Mae Beavers’ opponent sent out another press release attacking Sen. Beavers regarding the Tennessee Health Freedom Act, a bill that Sen. Beavers passed twice in the State Senate, and a bill that Beavers’ opponent was unable to pass in the State House.

The press release in question, in addition to recent mailers sent out by Sen. Beavers’ opponent, references the Tennessee Health Freedom Act, a bill crafted by Sen. Beavers with the aid of Rep. Jim Clark from Idaho – one of the nation’s leading state sovereignty champions. Senator Beavers’ bill included protection for Tennesseans from the unconstitutional provisions of the national healthcare legislation, and directed the Tennessee Attorney General to join the Attorney Generals of other states to challenge the constitutionality of Obamacare.

Sen. Beavers’ bill was passed overwhelmingly by the Senate (26-1) in February of 2010, after recommendation by the appropriate Senate committees. Four months later, in June, five minutes before telling the House sponsor of the Health Freedom Act, Rep. Mike Bell, that he would vote for the bill and send it out of committee, House Speaker Kent Williams instead voted to kill the Senate bill. Incredibly, Beavers’ opponent now declares in her press release that this never happened. The event, widely reported at the time, was decried by all those opposed to the unconstitutional federal healthcare mandate.

It is also a fact that soon after, the House Speaker voted instead to send to the house floor a substantially weaker bill that did nothing to combat the unprecedented and unconstitutional federal mandates… A bill authored by Senator Beavers’ opponent.

Unfortunately, Beavers’ opponent’s weaker bill was dead in the Senate as it had never been moved by the Senate sponsor, nor heard by a single committee.

“My opponent knew that the Senate version of her bill had not moved through committee, but instead the House Speaker knew that he could kill my bill and instead pass out my opponent’s, a move that screams politics at its worse,” said Beavers.  “It’s also a fact that before doing this, my opponent had agreed to hold back a bill regarding the TWRA that she was sponsoring at the Speaker’s request, a move that many know was made to put pressure on the TWRA to provide funding for the Speaker’s pork project – the infamous fish hatchery in Carter County.”

Beavers’ opponent’s press release also reveals that she doesn’t understand how a bill becomes a law. She claims that Sen. Beavers, apparently single-handedly, amended her weaker Healthcare Freedom Act in the Senate.  Such a statement shows blatant ignorance regarding how the State Senate operates, as the only way the Senate agreed to hear the dead bill directly on the floor was to amend it to include language that had moved through the Senate committee system and then passed by the full Senate.

“My opponent obviously does not know how the State Senate operates, and would rather spread baseless lies,” said Sen. Beavers.  “I did not amend my opponent’s bill – the entire Senate did – and if we would not have, then that bill would not have been able to be voted on.  The Senate saved the Health Freedom Act, and we then passed it for a second time.”

Eventually, the House failed to pass the TN Health Freedom Act, a move that angered both Sen. Beavers as well as many who view the national healthcare legislation to be unprecedented and unconstitutional. Yet, Sen. Beavers’ opponent continues to blame her for the bill’s failure, including calling the language passed by the Senate as being “unconstitutional.”

When asked about such a statement, Sen. Beavers responded by saying, “Well, the only way you can believe that the TN Health Freedom Act is unconstitutional is if you believe Obamacare is constitutional, and quite frankly, I and my nine co-sponsors and the other 22 Senators who voted for the Heath Freedom Act do not.”

MT. JULIET, TN – Senator Mae Beavers is proud today to receive the endorsement of one of the country’s state sovereignty champions, Representative Jim Clark of Idaho.  Representative Clark is the current Idaho House of Representatives Judiciary Chairman, as well as being Idaho’s state chairman to the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).

“I am proud today to announce my endorsement of a lady with strong convictions and who has worked tirelessly to combat an unprecedented over-reaching of the federal government throughout the years,” said Representative Clark.  “Senator Beavers sponsored and passed the Firearms Freedom Act last year, and this year sponsored and passed the Tennessee Health Freedom Act twice in the State Senate.  The state of Tennessee and the people of Senator Beavers’ district are lucky to have someone with such steadfast and consistently conservative principles and credentials.”

Representative Clark is the original author of the Idaho Health Freedom Act – joining with Virginia and Arizona as being one of the three states with statutorily-enacted laws directly challenging the constitutionality of President Obama’s national healthcare legislation.  Clark worked with Senator Beavers in drafting of the Tennessee Health Freedom Act, acknowledging that language offered by ALEC’s version of the bill was inadequate and did nothing but issue a statement of intention regarding what the state legislature can and cannot do.

“The ALEC version of the Healthcare Freedom Act was similar to a resolution,” said Representative Clark.  “I decided to use language in my legislation that made the law in Idaho a direct confrontation with the unconstitutional federal healthcare bill.  We also put into law a remedy to such an unprecedented violation of our rights in that our Attorney General would protect the state of Idaho from these federal fines and unfunded mandates.  I applaud Senator Beavers for passing this bill in the Tennessee Senate, and I wish the Tennessee House of Representatives would have been able to pass this legislation and stand up to the federal government as well.”

Representative Clark graduated from Tampa University in Florida in 1973. He received a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army, and later served his country proudly for twenty years stationed in Germany, South America, Vietnam, and throughout the United States.  Clark also has a Master of Science degree in International Relations from Troy State University in Alabama and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Idaho.  Clark has served in the Idaho House of Representatives since 1996.

Contact: Josh Bradley
Phone:  (615) 444-4898

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Susan Lynn argued, repeatedly, that the Attorney General was the Governor’s attorney and the Governor trusted him. This is simply incorrect and betrays an appalling ignorance about the office of Attorney General. The Attorney General is NOT the Governor’s attorney. He is not appointed by the Governor. He does not report to the Governor. He is appointed by the justices of the state supreme court.

Tennessee Report had a reporter at the meeting and he video-taped the whole meeting. Watch these three videos if you want to know exactly what happened:

On Friday, June 4th, Senate leaders enacted a procedural method that revived the Tennessee Health Freedom Act.  The original Health Freedom Act, SB 3498, was sponsored by Senator Beavers and passed the Senate Floor overwhelmingly last February.

However, due to parliamentary maneuvers and side-deals being struck by House members and the House Speaker, that bill was killed last week in a budget subcommittee.

“The House Speaker cast a tie-breaking vote to kill that bill in committee last week,” said Senator Beavers.  “The House committee then decided to pass out a similar, but substantially weaker bill to cover their tracks… however, all of the members knew that bill had not moved in the Senate.  Their attempt to only advance the version that was dead in the Senate was their attempt to kill the Tennessee Health Freedom Act.”

The legislature was then left with a predicament in that there were two different versions of a bill that sought to protect Tennesseans from unconstitutional provisions of the national health care bill. However, both of their companion bills were stalled in the opposite legislative chamber.  Therefore, SB 2560 was recalled from committee and brought straight to the Senate Floor.  The only way the Senate agreed to recall the bill was to have an amendment that would put Beavers’ version of the Tennessee Health Freedom Act onto the bill since that was the only amendment that had been through the Senate committee process. If the Senate had not adopted that version of the bill, the bill would have been dead.

“This was an unusual procedural motion,” acknowledged Senator Beavers.  “However the difference between this motion and others that have failed in the past is that this amendment has been vetted in committee and passed overwhelmingly in February.  To me, it’s not a question of politics, it’s a matter of policy and principle… the Tennessee legislature needs to send a firm message to Washington that we do not agree with their unprecedented and unconstitutional national healthcare legislation.  My amendment protected Tennesseans from the federal government, the other bill only said that the state legislature could not impose mandatory healthcare – which is irrelevant because it’s the federal government, not the state, who will impose such a mandate.”

Then, after passing the Senate overwhelming for the second time, the Tennessee Health Freedom Act failed to receive the necessary 50 votes to pass in its final form in the House of Representatives.

“I was incredibly discouraged that House Democrats voted to kill this bill,” said Senator Beavers.  “The Senate did every maneuver we could to resurrect this bill – even passing the Tennessee Health Freedom Act once in February and then again last week.”

Many Democrats cited the reason for their vote being that Tennessee’s Attorney General said it was likely unconstitutional, yet Senator Beavers argued that such a statement was merely his opinion.  “The only way you could say that my bill is unconstitutional would be if you believe Obamacare is constitutional – and the State Senate said loud and clear that we do not think it is… it’s the Attorney General’s job to defend the policies of this state, and there is no way that an unconstitutional federal law should trump a constitutional state law!”

To read about the different versions of the Tennessee Health Freedom Act, see

• Mae Beavers’ original Health Freedom Act – SB3498:
  http://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SB3498
• Amendment 1 to SB3498:
  http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/106/Amend/SA0829.pdf
• Weaker Health Freedom Bill originated in the House – SB2560:
  http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/106/Bill/SB2560.pdf
• And finally, a compromise bill reached in conference committee for SB2560:
  http://www.capitol.tn.gov/Bills/106/CCRReports/CC0027.pdf