AxXiom for Liberty | Jul. 3, 2012

Lawmaker Plans to File Bill to `Nullify’ Individual Mandate

OKLAHOMA CITY – State Rep. Mike Ritze plans to reintroduce a bill to “nullify” the individual mandate in the 2010 federal health care legislation in Oklahoma.

“I disagree with the Supreme Court’s ruling and believe that state governments were intended to serve as a check on the federal government,” said Ritze, R-Broken Arrow. “The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which is better known as ObamaCare, is an example of federal overreach and my legislation will authorize the state to resist it and ban the enforcement of it.”

Ritze said his legislation would authorize the Oklahoma attorney general to defend citizens who fail to purchase health insurance against the federal government and criminalizes the enforcement of the individual mandate.

“My hope is that ObamaCare will be repealed, but I do not think that means we have to wait for the repeal to happen. Oklahoma lawmakers should do what they can to support our choice to make our own health care decisions,” Ritze said.