New Hampshire Democrats Statement on Supreme Court Declaring HB89 Unconstitutional

NH Supreme Court: O'Brien and Bettencourt need a civics lesson! 

Concord, NH - Today, the New Hampshire Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision that HB 89 violates the Separation of Powers Clause and is unconstitutional.  HB89 was passed by House Republicans in an effort to prevent vital cost saving reforms of the Affordable Care Act from being implemented for the people of New Hampshire. 

"Today's decision was the New Hampshire Supreme Court standing courageously and firmly for the constitutional principal of the separation of powers against the unconstitutional legislative activism practiced by Speaker O'Brien and Majority Leader Bettencourt. The Speaker and Majority Leader may not like our form of government or our state Constitution, but it is a form of government that has served New Hampshire well for over 200 years, and it is a Constitution which they are sworn to uphold," said Harrell Kirstein, press secretary for the New Hampshire Democratic Party. 

"The Supreme Court has protected the people of New Hampshire from an unconstitutional effort by the legislature to violate the separation of powers doctrine.  It is a well-reasoned decision based on New Hampshire precedent, history of the New Hampshire Constitution and constitutional conventions, and the plain language of the New Hampshire Constitution," continued Kirstein.  "Instead of keeping their promise to the voters and working on job creation, O'Brien and Bettencourt are focused like a laser beam on their reckless and irresponsible Tea Party agenda."

House Leaders Statement on Passage of SB 162, Obamacare Oversight

CONCORD – House Speaker William O’Brien (R-Mont Vernon) and House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt (R-Salem) today released the following statement regarding the passage of SB 162, which creates a committee consisting of elected legislators to oversee state implementation of Obamacare.

House Speaker William O’Brien

 “This legislation provides an important check and balance. It establishes an oversight committee consisting of elected representatives of the people, and requires that the insurance commissioner or other state officials or agencies seeking to enforce provisions of ObamaCare do so in conjunction with this committee.”

House Majority D.J. Bettencourt

“The Democrats rammed Obamacare through despite the wishes of our citizens,  but that’s no reason for us to saddle them with higher taxes. It is important that we maintain oversight over any  proposed federal changes and ensure that federal health care reform can only be  implemented in New Hampshire with legislative  authority.  The voters elected their representatives to fix this mess and it should be representatives of the people not unelected bureaucrats who make these policy decisions.”

NH House leadership on the passage of SB 148

CONCORD – The House today voted 261 to 104 to direct New Hampshire's  Executive Council to return $666 thousand in planning funds sent to the state by the federal government for the purpose of implementing an insurance exchange for Obamacare. Following the vote, House leaders released the following statements:

“This bill sends the Obamacare money back to Washington with specific instructions to use it to reduce our massive federal deficit. Obamacare has been found unconstitutional by two federal courts and we are awaiting the final decision by the U.S. Supreme Court. Spending that sort of money to comply with a mandate that is three years away and stands on very shaky ground makes no sense. It is irresponsible to knowingly waste tax dollars, be it state or federal, when we face historic budget deficits in Washington and Concord. No bit of money should be considered ‘insignificant’ in the ongoing discussions of balancing the budget. We simply have to be better stewards of taxpayer money,” said House Speaker William O’Brien (R-Mont Vernon).

“Obamacare increases the federal deficit by over $700 billion over the next decade and it will increase, not decrease, premiums. I am pleased that the House sent a message today that we‘re not interested in federal money with strings attached and that we will fight to preserve our sovereignty. The House stood firm on its position that, without exception, Obamacare is unconstitutional and wrong for New Hampshire.  Accepting these federal funds would crack open the door to Obamacare in New Hampshire and begin a process that would be very hard to slow down or reverse. No matter who designed the exchange it would surely be detrimental to the state’s health care system and the economy,  and extremely expensive for the taxpayers of New Hampshire. The public resentment to Obamacare is one of the main reasons why the public supported Republicans last November. It is clear our taxpayers don’t want their money spent on this disastrous scheme by the Democrats to control our health care,” said House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt (R-Salem).

House Speaker Introduces Legislation to Send Obamacare Money Back to Washington for Deficit Reduction

CONCORD – Today House Republican leadership offered an amendment to SB 148 that would require the attorney general to join the lawsuit challenging Obamacare and direct federal money to implement the system back to Washington to reduce the deficit.

“If you ask a member of the public if they would rather see their money wasted on federal taxes or state taxes, most likely their answer will be they would prefer not to see their money wasted at all. Our taxpayers deserve to have their hard-earned money spent wisely and responsibly, not wasted. It makes no sense to throw money at implementing state health insurance when the system could very well be invalidated and gutted. As we know, the President came out Wednesday with a plan for $4 trillion in deficit reduction. New Hampshire stands ready to do its part by sending back this Obamacare money to go toward the federal deficit,” said House Speaker Bill O’Brien.

“The Democrats rammed Obamacare through despite the wishes of the public but that’s no reason that we should saddle our citizens with higher taxes and the freedom to run their own healthcare that Obamacare mandates. The voters elected to fix this mess and that’s just what this legislation does,” said House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt.

Attachment (1): Amendment 1431h

NH House, Senate Leaders Join State Officials Nationally Asking President Obama to Expedite Court Decision on Obamacare Lawsuit

Concord- House Speaker William O’Brien, Senate President Peter Bragdon and House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt today joined national leaders in calling for President Obama to have his administration move to expedite the lawsuit over the new national health care reform law to the U.S. Supreme Court.  Yesterday, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley began collecting signatures for a letter from governors across the country to ask the President to bring quick resolution to this bill by speeding Supreme Court review.

House Speaker William O’Brien

“The uncertainty of Obamacare throws our budget process into chaos.  This new law severely restricts the state’s ability to manage Medicaid, which is the largest program in New Hampshire’s government.  Given the tremendous fiscal challenges we face as we put together our plans for the next two years, not knowing whether the law will remain is a major impact to our state, and every state.  That’s why we ask the President to expedite the appeals process for the law and allow states to make our budget decisions accordingly.”

Senate President Peter Bragdon

“Multiple rulings questioning the constitutionality of President Obama’s health care overhaul have caused confusion for state budgets and the finances of businesses and families across the country.  The time has come to settle the basic legal questions surrounding this intrusive federal mandate once and for all.  Doing so will allow the State of New Hampshire to move forward with our budgeting processes with the flexibility and control needed to make difficult decisions in tough economic times.”

House Majority Leader D.J. Bettencourt

“I urge Governor Lynch to join Governor Haley in asking President Obama to expedite the Obamacare lawsuit to the Supreme Court. New Hampshire taxpayers deserve the stability to know what effect Obamacare’s mandates and restrictions will have on their lives. President Obama owes it to the states to move this law to a Supreme Court and allow the Justices to settle whether the two federal judges and 28 states are correct in their belief that this law is an unconstitutional monstrosity. If President Obama feels that this initiative is his top priority, he should stop dragging his feel and potentially wasting taxpayer money and push this matter quickly through to a conclusion.”