CONYERS, SLAUGHTER, CROWLEY, NADLER & JEFFRIES: GOP Bill To Single Out New Yorkers Represents Worst of Washington

Members Release Legal Analysis Pointing to Provision’s Unconstitutionality

Washington, D.C. – Today, House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), House Rules Committee Ranking Member Louise Slaughter (D-NY), Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley (D-NY), and House Judiciary Committee Members Reps. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) released a legal analysis, below, prepared by the House Judiciary Committee Democratic staff demonstrating the unconstitutionality of the ongoing Republican plans to single out New York State for sharing Medicaid costs with its counties. The Members  released the following joint statement:

Dean of the U.S. House
of Representatives
John Conyers, Jr.

“House Republicans’ Trumpcare bill is nothing more than a tax cut for the wealthy masquerading as a 'healthcare bill.' If this bill were to become law, 24 million Americans would lose their insurance coverage, and seniors would face skyrocketing premiums. Even worse, to appease the extreme conservatives of the House Republican Freedom Caucus, the newly adopted manager’s amendment includes provisions eliminating Essential Health Benefits requirements such as maternity care, prescription drug and emergency coverage – essentially erasing protections for Americans with pre-existing conditions.

“In a desperate attempt to pass this unconscionable bill, Speaker Ryan and the House Republican leadership have offered to include the Faso-Collins amendment in order to gain the support of vulnerable New York Republican members. This blatant vote buying represents the worst side of Washington politics. In fact, many Republican Attorneys General called a similar provision in 2009 ‘constitutionally flawed’ and ‘violating the most basic and universally held notions of what is fair and just.’  

“By singling out New York State – even though 15 other states have similar systems for sharing Medicaid costs -- and forcing New York to give up its core sovereign power to decide how it will raise funds for its own share of Medicaid, this measure is unconstitutional. This is why we believe New York State would be well within its rights to challenge the provision in court, as Governor Cuomo has suggested.

“The irony of this buyout is that the payment supposedly being delivered in exchange for votes is the legislative equivalent of a check on a closed bank account. It will never deliver the promised benefit. 

“Finally, it is also important to note that House Republican Leadership’s reckless attempt to cram Trumpcare through Congress is that according to the most recent CBO report, the Faso-Collins amendment has no or only incidental impact on the federal budget.  It should therefore be struck under reconciliation rules if this bill even reaches the Senate.” 

Background

For the last 51 years, New York State has chosen to fund a portion of its share of the Medicaid Program by using funds from county property taxes.  Fifteen other states structure Medicaid funding through a similar legally authorized system.

The Faso-Collins amendment, being incorporated into the Manager’s amendment to H.R. 1628, the “American Healthcare Act of 2017,”  specifies that any State that had an allotment of Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) funds that was more than 6 times the national average, and that requires subdivisions with populations of less than 5,000,000 to contribute toward Medicaid costs, shall have its reimbursement reduced by the amount of contributions by such subdivisions. This effectively limits the application to New York State, and carves out New York City. Under the amendment, New York State is at risk of losing $2.3 billion of its $32 billion in Federal Medicaid funds.

The amendment would implicate Constitutional limits on the Federal Spending Power, the Due Process and Equal Protection Clauses and the Tenth Amendment (reserving all undelegated powers to the States) because it is not related to a legitimate Federal interest; no rational Federal purpose has been proffered for the provision which singles out New York for discrimination; and it severely intrudes on traditional state prerogatives, such as structuring taxing and spending authorities.  Under a series of Supreme Court cases these provisions would exceed Congress’s spending authority, violate the Equal Protection and Due Process Clauses, and violate Tenth Amendment principles. 

House Judiciary Committee Democratic Staff Legal Analysis of Republican Plans To Target New York State Medi... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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HOUSE JUDICIARY DEMS RELEASE LETTER FROM MORE THAN 35 LAW PROFESSORS EXPRESSING CONSTITUTIONAL CONCERNS OVER GOP STREAMING BAN PROPOSAL COMING TO HOUSE FLOOR TODAY

Background: House Judiciary Committee Democrats today released a letter led by former

constitutional law professor and newly elected Congressman Jamie Raskin and signed by more than 35 law professors and scholars from across the country, which expresses constitutional concerns over Republican leadership’s proposal to allow administrative officers to impose fines on Members of Congress for using an electronic device to photograph or record House floor proceedings. This proposal is part of a rules package that will come to the House floor today and is an apparent reaction to the Democratic sit-in on the House floor last June.

House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), House Committee on Rules Ranking Member Louise Slaughter (D-NY), House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution Ranking Member Steve Cohen (D-TN), and Subcommittee on Intellectual Property Ranking Member, and former chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) released a joint statement last week on the proposal.

Conyers, Slaughter, Nadler & Cohen: New Republican Rule Is a Modern Day Gag Rule

Washington, DC – House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), House Committee on Rules Ranking Member Louise Slaughter (D-NY), House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution Ranking Member Steve Cohen (D-TN), and Subcommittee on Intellectual Property Ranking Member, and former chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) today released a joint statement on the proposed Republican Rules package, which, among other things, would delegate to the Sergeant-at-Arms the  authority to impose fines of up to $2,500 per offense against any Member who uses an electronic device to photograph or record House floor proceedings. 

This is an apparent reaction to the Democratic sit-in on the House floor last June over the Republicans’ failure to bring up common sense gun safety legislation in the wake of the Orlando night club shootings.

“House Republican Leadership, as one of its first priorities for the incoming Congress, seeks to impose a modern day and unconstitutional gag rule to restrict the First Amendment rights of Members to protest and engage in other forms of expression on the House floor as well as deny them due process."

This unprecedented rule change, which appears to violate several fundamental constitutional protections, clearly is intended to undermine the rights of Members in the Minority to freely express their views on the House floor, which is a critical means by which Members communicate to the American public. 

It is particularly egregious that such a controversial and potentially unlawful change is being implemented in the complete absence of hearings or input from legal experts, let alone the Minority.

“In effect, this proposed rule change would empower a protocol official to unilaterally impose a fine against a Member who uses an electronic device to photograph or record House floor proceedings without affording the Member any due process."

Even the threat of this fine would have a chilling effect on the right of Members to express their views on the House floor, which is one of the most fundamental protections under the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause as well as the First Amendment. 

"As the U.S. Supreme Court recognized more than 50 years ago in Mills v. Alabama, ‘Whatever differences may exist about interpretations of the First Amendment, there is practically universal agreement that a major purpose of that Amendment was to protect the free discussion of governmental affairs.’

“In addition, the proposed rule change fails to provide a Member any due process to contest the imposition of the fine before it is automatically deducted from the Member’s salary, the diminution of which is protected by the 27th Amendment."

“Rather than ensuring greater transparency and promoting full and fair debate, the House Republican Leadership has chosen to do the very opposite by authorizing ‘speech police’ to restrict the First Amendment right of the Minority to express their dissent on the House floor. Surely this could not happen on the floor of the U.S. House, given that we’re sworn to uphold the Constitution.”

114th Congress

HOUSE JUDICIARY DEMS RELEASE LETTER FROM MORE THAN 35 LAW PROFESSORS EXPRESSING CONSTITUTIONAL CONCERNS OVE... by Beverly Tran on Scribd

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Conyers & Top Democrats Call for End to House GOP’s Abuse of Power, Demand Vote to Condemn Issa’s Actions

(WASHINGTON) – Today, House Democrats stood in solidarity on the House Floor and filed a privileged resolution that condemns the actions of Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa for violating House Rules during yesterday’s hearing on the IRS when he tried to silence Ranking Member Elijah E. Cummings by deliberately cutting off his microphone.

The resolution, offered by Rep. Marcia Fudge, states: “The House of Representatives strongly condemns the offensive and disrespectful manner in which Chairman Darrell E. Issa conducted the hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on March 5, 2014, during which he turned off the microphones of the Ranking Member while he was speaking and adjourned the hearing without a recorded vote or a unanimous consent agreement.”

Today, for the first time, the top Democrats on several Committees came together to call on House Republicans to stop wasting taxpayer money and resources obstructing the legislative process and shutting out Democrats for political gain, and instead, focus on the priorities of Americans. Participants included the top Democrats on five House Committees, Reps. Cummings (D-MD), John Conyers (D-MI), Sandy Levin (D-MI), Louise Slaughter (D-NY), and Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), the Ranking Members of the Committees on Oversight and Government Reform, Judiciary, Ways and Means, Rules, and the Budget respectively.

Congressman Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), Ranking Member on House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: “I understand that House Republicans have already called it quits in terms of legislating any more this year, but the result is that all they have left are these reckless and abusive investigations.  This is a huge waste of taxpayer resources, and it does absolutely nothing for the American people.  We need to do the work that the American people elected us to do.”

Congressman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.), Ranking Member on House Committee on the Judiciary: “In recent months, the Majority’s agenda has been disheartening and their leadership wanting. The public business of the Judiciary Committee has been bogged down by partisan messaging bills - with no chance of passage - simply to pander to their conservative base. The situation is shameful. Yet, it does not have to be like this; I remember a time - not too long ago - where meaningful, bipartisan reform was considered, thoughtful legislation was debated, and the Committee process worked. At some point we need to lay down the legislative armor and do something simply because it’s the right thing to do.”

Congressman Sandy Levin (D-Mich.), Ranking Member on House Committee on Ways and Means:“House Republicans are desperate to keep their baseless allegations alive, even if it means silencing the truth by turning off microphones. The endless Republican drive to appeal to the Tea Party and taint the White House has pushed them to new extremes.”

Congresswoman Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), Ranking Member on House Committee on Rules: “We have reached the boiling point. What has happened in this place week after week in the House of Representatives is nothing short of legislative malpractice. Think about the money that is being wasted here week after week to make a political statement—it’s  costing us not just in terms of infrastructure, education, and healthcare, but think about how it’s costing us our self-respect and the way we look to the rest of the world.”

Congressman Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Ranking Member on House Committee on the Budget: “Last fall, by changing the rules to keep the government shutdown, Republicans suspended democracy in the full House of Representatives. What we saw yesterday was democracy being suspended in House committees,” said Congressman Chris Van Hollen. “As a result of the abuse of power we saw from Chairman Issa, we’re not able to focus on the things that are important to the American people – creating more jobs and expanding opportunity to more people.” 

Yesterday, every Democratic Member of Oversight Committee sent a letter to Chairman Issa calling on him to apologize immediately for denying Ranking Member Cummings his right under House Rules to speak at the IRS hearing.

Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. alongside his colleagues - Representatives Cummings, Slaughter, and Van Hollen - at a press conference discussing House Republican offenses.

Issa Letter on IRS Hearing Shutdown March 5, 2014

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