Politics

With court defeat, GOP health law effort now aimed at ’16

Published

11 years ago

June 27, 2015

Students cheer as they hold up signs indicating the numbers of people in different states who would lose healthcare coverage, now over written with “still covered” stickers, after the Supreme Court decided that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) may provide nationwide tax subsidies, Thursday June 25, 2015, outside of the Supreme Court in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

By Alan Fram
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court’s resounding rejection of a conservative attempt to gut President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul won’t stop Republicans from attacking the law they detest. But now, their efforts will be chiefly about teeing up the issue for the 2016 presidential and congressional elections.

The court’s decision left GOP lawmakers stunned and uncertain about their next steps. Most agreed they would continue trying to annul the entire law and erase individual pieces of it, like its taxes on medical devices. Yet many also conceded they have little leverage to force Obama to scale back — let alone kill — one of his most treasured legislative achievements.

“Obamacare is fundamentally broken,” said House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, who said repeal efforts would continue. But he declined to guarantee a vote on a replacement plan this year and said, “It’s very difficult to deal with it when you have a president that fundamentally disagrees with us. And so the struggle will continue.”

“We’ll continue to pick away at the law,” said Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., a leader of Senate GOP efforts to craft a bill responding to a court victory that never came. “But ultimately our goal is to repeal and replace, and that’s not going to be possible until after the 2016 elections,” when Republicans hope for a GOP president.

That leaves Republicans mostly using efforts to void or dramatically weaken the health care overhaul to contrast their views with Obama’s for voters.

“I believe 2016 will be a national referendum on repealing Obamacare,” said Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who’s seeking his party’s presidential nomination.

Yet though few would admit it, the court’s ruling caused many Republicans to exhale.

By leaving intact federal subsidies that help millions afford health care, the ruling lets Republicans bash Obama’s law in their 2016 campaigns without having to quickly help those who would have lost assistance. GOP lawmakers are divided over how — and even whether — to help those losing subsidies, and failure to do so could have created many angry voters.

“There isn’t some sort of, that sword of Damocles hanging over our heads that people are going to lose their care in 30 days or something,” said Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore., who heads House GOP campaign efforts.

Republicans have promised to repeal and replace Obama’s law since its 2010 enactment, but have yet to rally behind a plan doing that.

Had the GOP-backed lawsuit by conservatives succeeded, the 34 states likeliest to lose subsidies included many that will be pivotal in next year’s elections. That included Florida, a key presidential state where a national high of 1.3 million people could have lost assistance, plus Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin and New Hampshire, where GOP senators could face tight re-election battles and worried about constituents losing aid.

“The court has saved Republicans from themselves,” said former Rep. Tom Davis of Virginia, who once led the House Republican political organization.

It took just minutes for both sides to use the ruling for political fundraising. GOP presidential hopeful Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, emailed for money to stop “the overreaches of the last six years,” while Senate Democrats warned that Republicans have “pledged to destroy Obamacare.”

The decision was a relief to the health care industry, which feared chaos in the insurance market, and business groups hoping Congress would now turn to making specific changes in the law to ease employers’ costs.

In Thursday’s ruling, the justices by 6-3 left intact subsidies that help 8.7 million people buy health insurance — most of whom analysts say couldn’t otherwise afford coverage.

Conservative plaintiffs said the law’s wording limited that aid to states running their own insurance marketplaces — not the three-dozen states using the federal website HealthCare.org. The law’s defenders said killing those subsidies would destabilize health insurance by increasingly leaving only sicker, costlier people with coverage — raising everyone’s rates.

“Congress passed the Affordable Care Act to improve health insurance markets, not to destroy them,” Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in the majority opinion, using the law’s formal name. Roberts’ deciding vote found the law constitutional in 2012.

“We should start calling this law SCOTUScare,” said dissenting Justice Antonin Scalia, using the court’s acronym.

Savoring his triumph at the White House, Obama noted that his law has had five years to take hold and said: “This is not about the Affordable Care Act as legislation, or Obamacare as a political football. This is health care in America.”

Even so, Republicans had little reason to back off, especially those concerned about primaries from conservative challengers. An April Associated Press-GfK Poll showed that 71 percent of Republicans oppose the law, compared to 33 percent of independents and 14 percent of Democrats.

“We’ve got to put something on the president’s desk, not just a repeal but what are we going to do, what’s our alternative,” said Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan.

In the latest potential wedge between conservatives and Boehner, the speaker said he had not decided whether to use streamlined procedures that could avoid a Senate filibuster. Conservatives want to use those rules, but that device can be used only rarely and some Republicans want to save it for something Obama might sign, like deficit reduction.

___

Associated Press writer Erica Werner contributed to this report.

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Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of September 2 – 8, 2026

Published

3 days ago

September 7, 2026

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Longtime BWOPA Member Brendalyn Goodall Appointed to California Workforce Development Board

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed longtime Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) member Brendalynn Goodall to the California Workforce Development Board. Goodall, an Oakland resident with decades of experience in public service, has held leadership positions focused on

Published

2 weeks ago

August 30, 2026

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Post Co-Publisher Gay Plair Cobb with Brendalynn Goodall. Courtesy photo.

By California Black Media

Gov. Gavin Newsom has appointed longtime Black Women Organized for Political Action (BWOPA) member Brendalynn Goodall to the California Workforce Development Board.

Goodall, an Oakland resident with decades of experience in public service, has held leadership positions focused on employment, aging services and assistance for underserved communities.

“Brendalynn will be a great addition to this Board,” said Gay Plair Cobb, who served as former state Assemblyman Sandre Swanson’s alternate to the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB).

“She understands that California’s non-profit organizations serve persons who have the most significant barriers to their labor market success and that the Board should help these groups navigate the complicated requirements of state funding.

“In other words, she will be a strong advocate for our most marginalized populations. Her voice is needed now, more than ever.”

CWDB works with the governor to shape workforce policies, programs and investments designed to strengthen the state’s economy. It collaborates with employers, workers, labor organizations, educational institutions, community groups and California’s 45 local workforce development boards to expand access to quality jobs and respond to regional employment needs.

According to the board, its work includes coordinating state programs and guiding investments in workforce training and development.

BWOPA California celebrated the appointment, describing Goodall as a dedicated advocate for workers, families and older adults.

“Her appointment reflects a lifetime of leadership, service, and unwavering commitment to strengthening California’s workforce and expanding opportunity for all,” the organization stated in a press release.

Goodall served as summer jobs program coordinator in the Oakland Mayor’s Office from 2012 to 2014. In that position, she helped connect young people with employment opportunities and job experience.

Before joining the Mayor’s Office, Goodall was division manager for Aging and Adult Services in the City of Oakland Human Services Department from 2002 to 2011. She previously served as senior services supervisor and program director for the city’s Department of Aging, Health and Human Services from 1990 to 2002.

Goodall is also a member of the California Commission on Aging, which advises the governor and state officials on policies and programs affecting older Californians.

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‘Passing a Law Isn’t The Finish Line’: California Assembly Evaluates Implementation, Results

A separate review found that the California Public Utilities Commission’s implementation of AB 2316 had not fulfilled the law’s intent or produced new community solar projects. In response, Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego) introduced AB 1813, legislation to overhaul the state’s renewable energy program and increase access to solar technology.

Published

2 weeks ago

August 30, 2026

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California State Assembly Chamber. Photo courtesy of California State Assembly.

By Bo Tefu, California Black Media

California lawmakers are finding that laws passed in Sacramento do not always work as intended once implemented. A new Assembly oversight program has identified gaps in laws addressing wildfire recovery, insurance, foster care and clean energy.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) announced Aug. 17 that the Assembly had completed the first year of its Outcomes Review program. Billed as the first initiative of its kind in the nation, the program enlisted 15 Assembly members to evaluate 14 laws they authored or championed. Through public hearings and community meetings, lawmakers assessed whether the measures were producing their intended results.

“Passing a law isn’t the finish line,” said Rivas. “The Outcomes Review project makes sure we’re checking our work.”

The reviews identified both successes and shortcomings. The expansion of telehealth largely improved access to care and provided patients with greater flexibility. Affordable housing financing reforms also strengthened coordination among state agencies and could reduce duplicative paperwork, development costs and delays.

Other reviews uncovered more significant implementation problems.

One focused on Assembly Bill (AB) 238, which was enacted after the Eaton and Palisades fires to provide eligible borrowers with up to 12 months of emergency mortgage forbearance. The review found lender noncompliance, insufficient consumer complaint data and a need for stronger coordination between state and federal agencies.

Those findings helped shape AB 1842 and AB 1847, both victim-protection bills that are currently pending in the Senate.

After discovering that California’s FAIR Plan clearinghouse was failing to transition affected homeowners back into the private insurance market, Assemblymember Lisa Calderon (D-Whittier) introduced AB 69 to fix the issue.

Lawmakers also found that the FAIR Plan clearinghouse was not effectively helping homeowners move into the traditional insurance market, prompting the introduction of AB 69, legislation adding new reporting, notification, and access requirements.

The program identified additional implementation problems related to foster care placement protections, oversight of charitable fundraising and wage theft enforcement.

Rivas said the findings demonstrate the need for lawmakers to continue evaluating legislation after it takes effect.

“This isn’t oversight for its own sake — it’s what accountability looks like, and we’re just getting started,” he said.

The Assembly plans to expand the Outcomes Review program in 2027 by involving more lawmakers and holding additional public hearings and community meetings. The next phase, according to Rivas, will build on the pilot year as lawmakers seek to identify implementation problems earlier and improve how state laws work in practice.