Even though the healthcare reform bill appears to be dormant or dead in the U.S. Congress, Sen. A.G. Crowe is submitting a bill to the Legislature that he hopes will stop Congress from going any further on healthcare reform.

Crowe’s bill, which he has sent to state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell for a legal opinion would make any national healthcare reform plan unconstitutional, because it violates the 10th Amendment of the Constitution.

The 10th Amendment states, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” In other words, states cannot be forced to enforce federal laws that go against a state’s constitution. “I’m not against the Obama administration, but this is a states’ rights issue,” Crowe said.

He went on to say that the federal government cannot force people in Louisiana to buy health insurance. He said that would violate the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. The Commerce Clause regulates interstate commerce, which was amended in the McCarren-Ferguson Act of 1945 that gives states the authority to regulate insurance companies without interference from the federal government.

In a letter to Caldwell, Crowe wants to know if it is legal for the federal government to expand a state’s Medicaid program even if such an expansion is an unfunded mandate and the state can’t pay for it.

“State legislatures all over the country must be made away that they may be violating the 10th Amendment,” Crowe said.

While Crowe is waiting for the Attorney General’s opinion on the matter, he is pushing ahead with the legislation, even though the election of Republican Scott Brown in Massachusetts might mean the death of healthcare reform, Crowe said that his legislation, if passed, might give pause to the Congress if they try to revive the matter.

“Other states have similar legislation, but it has not passed constitutional muster,” Crowe said. “I’ve had constitutional lawyers look at this, and they said it passes muster. We need to keep up the pressure.”

The Legislature goes into session in early April, and Crowe will do a pre-filing in the next few weeks.

Crowe insists that the bill has nothing to do with party politics. “This is not a partisan issue, but a constitutional issue,” the senator said. “If we don’t do anything and wait, it could be too late. So we should go in there locked and loaded.”