Alaska’s Parnell Becomes 2nd Gov. to Refuse to Implement ObamaCare

The Associated Press reports that Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell (R) told the Juneau Chamber of Commerce that he will not be implementing ObamaCare:

“The state of Alaska will not pursue unlawful activity to implement a federal health care regime that has been declared unconstitutional by a federal court,” Parnell told the Juneau Chamber of Commerce, to applause, Thursday.

The AP included a couple of interesting comments from ObamaCare supporters Timothy Jost, a law professor at Washington & Lee University, and Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA.


Jost described Judge Roger Vinson (to whom Parnell referred) as “one renegade judge,” when in fact two federal judges have struck down ObamaCare’s individual mandate as unconstitutional. (Since only two federal judges have upheld ObamaCare, who’s to say which pair are the renegades?)


Jost also called Alaska an “outlier” among states, while the AP reported, “Neither [Pollock] nor Jost knew of any other state taking action similar to Parnell.” Jost and Pollack should know that Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R) had already refused to implement ObamaCare. (Here he is telling an approving audience of Cato supporters.) Ironically, the AP story overlooking Scott’s leadership appeared on the Miami Herald web site, which had previously reported that Scott even returned to the federal government the ObamaCare money that his predecessor Charlie Crist accepted but hadn’t spent. Scott may not be enough company to keep Parnell from being an outlier. But Jost should also know that dozens of governors who are implementing ObamaCare are also hoping the Supreme Court will strike it down as unconstitutional. Parnell and Scott are outliers for their courage, not because they oppose ObamaCare.


The news about Parnell came as the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion asking Judge Vinson to clarify that his declaratory judgment “does not relieve the parties of their rights and obligations under [ObamaCare] while the declaratory judgment is the subject of appellate review.” Ilya Shapiro and I clarified that issue in our oped, “President Should Heed Court and Stop Implementing ObamaCare.”