FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, June 16, 2017
CONTACT: Erin Humiston, (972) 874-5139, or erin@IPI.org
DALLAS –The decision made by House Republicans to pull a federal, top-down preemption medical malpractice bill is a victory for federalism and states’ rights.
“We warned this week that Congressman Steve King’s (R-Iowa) bill, a deeply troubling approach to tort reform, would have nullified state malpractice laws by imposing a top-down preemption, which is a violation of federalism and another example of the over-federalization of law and justice,” said Tom Giovanetti, president of the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI).
“As supporters of limited government and the wide berth given to states by the Ninth and Tenth Amendments, we applaud Republicans in Congress for listening to our concerns regarding this bill and therefore pulling this legislation out of respect to the Constitution.”
“Conservatives seek to solve policy problems while respecting constitutional limits on federal power, not by ignoring them,” said Giovanetti. “We recognize the need for tort reform, but we also recognize the tremendous harm that has been done over time by the federalization of matters that are properly the concern of the states, and this is where Congressman King went off the rails with his H.R. 1215, the “Protecting Access to Care Act,” said Giovanetti.