Donna Holt has sent you a group e-mail from Virginia 10th Amendment Blogs.
Dear Friends of Liberty,
I have had several questions from some of the members of the coalition wondering about the necessity to concern ourselves over the passage of Del. Bob Marshall's HB10 when Senator Jill Vogel's SB417 has already passed both house and will likely be signed into law by Governor McDonnell. I feel compelled to address the question with all of you.

SB417 provides that "a resident of the Commonwealth shall not be required to obtain or maintain a policy of individual insurance coverage". While this is a perfectly good bill and we are quite pleased it was passed by both houses, we believe HB10 has stronger language does something that HB417 doesn't do and that is to address the issue of penalties, fines and jail time if a citizen fails to comply with the proposed bills by Congress and Senate.

HB10 states that "no law shall restrict an individual's right and power to choose private health care systems or private plans." This language in the bill does the same thing as SB417, But HB10 goes further to state that "no law shall impose a penalty, tax, or fine upon an individual who declines to contract for health care coverage or to participate in a health care system or plan, except as required by a court in a judicial dispute to which the individual is a named party". This bill not only would prevent the federal government from inposing fines but it also forces the issue of a federal mandate on individuals to purchase federally approved health care coverage and enter into a contract under duress, into the court. No court has EVER ruled in favor of a contract entered into under duress. They have ALWAYS ruled such a contract is null and void.

Opponents will say that under the "Supremacy Clause", federal laws trump state laws. Well that may be true regarding those enumerated powers granted to the federal government under the U.S. Constitution in such matters as foreign policy and military defense, but it has no bearing on those powers not granted to it by the states or the people. The 10th amendment guarantees our states rights in this respect.
That being said, we definitely want HB10 passed into law over and above SB417.

Yours in liberty,
Donna Holt