Arkansas News Bureau

LITTLE ROCK — State Attorney General Dustin McDaniel said today he could not provide an opinion on the constitutionality of the new federal health care reform law.

McDaniel said questions about the law submitted by state Rep. John Burris, R-Harrison, were beyond the scope of his office.

Burris had asked whether the law infringes on Arkansas’ sovereignty; whether the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution allows the federal government to mandate that Arkansans procure and carry health insurance and fine or tax them if they do not comply; and whether the law violates the Ninth Amendment, which states that rights named in the Constitution do not deny or disparage other rights.

“The opinion-rendering function of this office does not ordinarily extend to questions of federal law, except as those questions involve or require the interpretation of state law,” McDaniel said in a written response.

Burris also asked McDaniel whether any law precludes the Arkansas attorney general from working with other states to challenge the law’s constitutionality. McDaniel has said previously his office will not join other states in challenging the law.

McDaniel responded to Burris today that no state law precluded such action, but his decision would depend on his view of the merits of the arguments being raised.

“When the arguments appear to have little or no legal merit, it would be a waste of the state’s resources to pursue that course of action,” McDaniel said.