Moran disappointed Senate did not repeal health care law

In his weekly report, Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kan. laments the Senate's failure to repeal the federal health care law:

On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Roger Vinson of Florida declared President Obama's entire health care reform law unconstitutional. Judge Vinson's ruling came in a lawsuit filed by attorneys general and governors from 26 states, including Kansas. It has become clear that the Supreme Court will have to settle this matter.

In response to Monday's court ruling, Senator Roberts and I sponsored the Save our States (SOS) Act, legislation that would halt implementation of the health reform law until the judicial review of the individual mandate is complete. Kansas is constitutionally prohibited from spending money it does not have, and should not be forced to make major budget decisions due to the requirements of the health law when its legitimacy is so uncertain.

Employers across our country continue to tell Washington how damaging the health care reform law is on their ability to hire new workers, grow and invest. Companies are facing destructive tax increases, 6,000 pages of new regulations, and burdensome mandates that increase the price of doing business in an already difficult economic environment. On Wednesday, I voted to repeal the damaging health care law, but the effort failed by a vote of 47-51. The Senate missed an opportunity to work toward reforms that will actually lower health care costs for families and businesses and increase access to quality care for Kansans. The reality is this new health care law raises premiums and reduces insurance options for families and incentivizes employers to pay a fine rather than provide coverage.

Although I am disappointed my colleagues failed to repeal the entire health law, the Senate did vote to repeal the costly 1099 tax reporting burden contained in the law. This provision, which takes effect in 2012, would force all businesses, charities, and state and local governments to file separate "1099 forms" with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reporting all goods and services transactions valued at more than $600 in a given year. This new requirement will impact 40 million businesses and increased 1099 filings by 2000 percent. Repeal of this onerous provision has been a priority for me in both the House and Senate, and the amendment that eliminated this mandate was based on S. 18, the Small Business Paperwork Mandate Elimination Act, a bill I sponsored last week. The repeal of the 1099 provision must now be considered by the House. Click here to read more about the repeal of the 1099 provision.