If a significant number of states pass the compact, supporters plan to submit it to Congress for approval in the same way that the body approves interstate compacts regulating commerce, transportation, and resource conservation and development.
Although critics do not dismiss the compact out of hand, they say its chances of becoming law are close to nil. Governor Brian Schweitzer of Montana, a Democrat, said in vetoing his state’s bill that “we will put a person on Neptune’’ before Congress passes the compact. States have never sought a compact to shield them from a whole area of federal law, let alone been granted permission to form one.
Some state officials, including Republicans such as Arizona Governor Jan Brewer who vetoed the compact, are worried that it would usurp their authority. Many others point out that joining a compact would disqualify their states from receiving automatic federal funding increases during hard times and prevent them from getting their fair share of the available pool of money.
Still, even if its prospects are more dubious than other methods of getting rid of last year’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - congressional repeal, judicial challenge, or a Republican presidential victory in 2012 - the compact has become a popular way for conservatives to highlight their opposition.
Compacts might receive even more attention now that Governor Rick Perry of Texas signed his state’s law July 18, just three weeks before he announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination. The primacy of states’ rights over federal powers is a tenet of Tea Party movement Republicans, whose support is key for candidates during the primary season.
For the original drafters, health care is only the first compact in a longer list that would include measures giving states broad powers to control banking, education, and energy.
