Fiscal Note
No appropriation is required.
Title
Resolution Urging Governor Walker To Implement the Affordable Care Act
Body
WHEREAS, in 2010 Congress adopted, and the President signed into law the Affordable Care Act (ACA), reforming the nation's health care system; and
WHEREAS, the ACA requires States to establish health insurance exchanges as a market place for citizens to purchase insurance, or the federal government will assume the responsibility and set up an exchange for the State; and
WHEREAS, under the ACA, Wisconsin is eligible for federal funds to expand Medicare coverage; and
WHEREAS, on June 28, 2012, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the ACA was constitutional in its major features; and
WHEREAS, J.B. Van Hollen, the Wisconsin Attorney General, has stated that the state has a legal obligation to implement the ACA now that it has been upheld by the United States Supreme Court; and
WHEREAS, Governor Walker first announced that he would not implement the ACA until the Supreme Court had ruled, but has now announced that he will wait until after the Presidential election; and
WHEREAS, refusing to implement the law based on a continually changing list of contingencies erodes people's confident in the rule of law, and fosters uncertainty at a time when the Governor insists that certainty is a precursor to economic growth;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Common Council of the City of Madison urges Governor Walker to carry out his legal obligations and implement the ACA.