Tuesday, April 20, 2010 | 2:20 p.m.
Sun archives
- ‘Constitution Defense Fund’ short of goal in health reform fight (4-16-10)
- State board OKs emergency funds in planning for health reform (4-13-10)
- Gibbons sets up ‘Constitution Defense Fund’ to fight health reform (4-8-10)
- AG: Gibbons overstepped with plan to sue over health reform (4-6-10)
- Report: Gibbons will join lawsuit over health care reform (4-2-10)
- AG won’t file health reform suit; Gibbons vows to stop ‘intrusion’ (3-30-10)
- Gibbons wants AG’s answer on health bill suit by next week (3-25-10)
- AG says governor can’t force lawsuit over health care reform (3-24-10)
Gov. Jim Gibbons said today that his so-called “Constitution Defense Fund” has surpassed its goal of raising $3,500 to challenge President Obama’s health care reform plan.
Las Vegas attorney Mark Hutchison has agreed to work without pay to challenge the legality of the law, but there will be legal costs in joining with other states, Gibbons said. He announced April 8 that he hoped to raise $3,500 to cover those costs.
Gibbons on Tuesday said the fund has a balance of $3,825.
“I am pleased to see that our fund has reached its goal less than two weeks after its establishment,” Gibbons said in a statement. “We are proceeding with our legal work and plan to file appropriate documents with the court by mid-May.”
The Sun reported last week that the governor had collected $890 in the fund during its first week.
The governor said any future donations will be deposited and held in trust for any unexpected costs of the lawsuit. If there are no additional costs, the funds will be returned to the donors who contributed after the $3,500 goal was met.
Gibbons today reiterated his opposition to the health care reform law.
“The Constitution says the rights not expressly delegated to the federal government are reserved to the individual states and to the people,” he said. “We need to stop this encroachment on our individual rights as citizens now, before any further mandates which dictate personal freedom and choices are enacted.”
The Republican governor has been publicly feuding with Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, who refused his directive to sue the federal government over the bill passed by Congress and signed last month by Obama.
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