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IN lawmaker wants ACA lawsuit to be withdrawn

An Indiana House Democrat says Governor Pence and Attorney General Zoeller have to back down from the state’s lawsuit over the Affordable Care Act’s employer mandate. 

That provision of the ACA requires employers with 50 or more employees who work at least 30 hours a week to provide health insurance or pay fines.  Fifteen Indiana school corporations joined the state in filing a lawsuit against the IRS and other federal agencies.  The suit says the employer mandate shouldn’t apply to state governments and public school corporations.

Attorney General Greg Zoeller (R-IN) says he wants guidance from the Supreme Court as he advises state officials about a situation in which, for the first time ever, the state would be taxed by the federal government.

“Right now they’re desperately reshaping the way schools are run in the state and the state government has issued new orders that we move employees down below 30 hours.”

Representative Ed DeLaney (D-Indianapolis) says if schools are so worried about paying for employee health insurance, the state legislature should find a way to help them.

“To punish every insured person in this state because a few school districts don’t want to pay for bus drivers’ health insurance is an outrageous result.  There’s got to be a better answer than that.”

The Obama administration previously delayed implementation of the employer mandate until 2015.

Brandon Smith is excited to be working for public radio in Indiana. He has previously worked in public radio as a reporter and anchor in mid-Missouri for KBIA Radio out of Columbia. Prior to that, he worked for WSPY Radio in Plano, Illinois as a show host, reporter, producer and anchor. His first job in radio was in another state capitol, in Jefferson City, Missouri, as a reporter for three radio stations around Missouri. Brandon graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a Bachelor of Journalism in 2010, with minors in political science and history. He was born and raised in Chicago.
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