ROANOKE - A "dramatic overreach of power." That's how Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli described the health care reform bill that passed the House of Representatives Sunday night.
In an interview with Washington D.C. NBC affiliate WRC on Monday, Cuccinelli laid out his justification for plans to file a lawsuit against the federal government over health care reform.
"Our intention is simply two-fold. Defend the Virginia Health Care Freedom Act, which forbids the imposition of a mandate on Virginia citizens to buy health insurance. And two, as a necessary way to do that, we're seeking to have the individual mandate held unconstitutional under the federal Commerce Clause," Cuccinelli stated.
"We will claim that Virginia is harmed, because out statute would be, uh, "squashed," to put it in layman's terms, by the federal health care bill if the individual mandate were allowed to stand. It is too much of an overreach from the power that the Constitution grants to Congress and the President. It's too far. Never before in history has the federal government ordered anyone to buy anything," Cuccinelli added.
The state Attorney General cited the bi-partisan passage of the Virginia Health Care Freedom Act in his remarks. The Virginia Senate is controlled by Democrats.
Cuccinelli believes if only Virginia's case is heard, then it will proceed relatively quickly through the first two federal court steps.
The first step: The Eastern Virginia District Court. Multiple times during the interview, Cuccinelli cited the court's nickname as the "rocket docket" for having the fastest case hearings in the country among federal district courts.
The second step: The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals. The 4th Circuit hears cases in Richmond, and handles appeals cases from a number of eastern states.
Cuccinelli estimated that Virginia's case could be through the Eastern Virginia District Court by the end of Summer, and through the 4th Circuit a year after that if heard by itself. If combined with lawsuits filed by other states, Cuccinelli said he would know how long that could take.
The Attorney General believes that the only way the lawsuit does not go to the U.S. Supreme Court, is if all federal appeals court agree on their rulings. If there's a split decision in one appellate court, then it would almost certainly head to the highest court in the U.S. Cuccinelli said.
Cuccinelli added that the action he plans to file is a fulfillment of commitments he made during the campaign to "reign in" the federal government. Cuccinelli also reminded the WRC reporter that he received the most votes for state Attorney General in the November 2009 election, than any other Virginia Attorney General in history.
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