House will vote on “Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care” bill

We did it! Our grassroots campaign has succeeded: the House GOP leadership has agreed to hold a vote on Dr. Tom Price’s “Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care” bill.

The vote is expected to take place within the next two weeks. [Update, July 26: The House has scheduled the vote for Friday, August 2.]

The bill, H.R.2009, would completely remove the IRS from enforcement of the president’s controversial health care law. Since the IRS is ObamaCare’s lead enforcement agency, granted 47 new powers and authorities under the statute (including powers to enforce the unconstitutional and unnecessary individual mandate), this bill would effectively end the Washington health care takeover.

The IRS has admitted that it intentionally and systematically discriminated against conservative and tea party groups in the run-up to the 2012 election. We simply can’t trust the IRS with control of our health care.

As soon as the IRS targeting scandal was revealed in early May, FreedomWorks went to work helping local tea party groups bring forward their stories of IRS abuse, and pushing to have IRS legislatively fired from health care enforcement.

In mid-May, we launched a national grassroots campaign to get Members of Congress to cosponsor the Price bill, in order to pressure the House GOP leadership to bring the bill to the floor for a vote. So far, we’ve generated more than 21,000 messages to Congress in support of H.R.2009, and no fewer than 114 Representatives have added their names to the bill as cosponsors. In my 20 years working in and around Congress, I’ve seen only one or two bills rack up that amount of support that quickly.

Now that we’ve gotten leadership to schedule the bill, we have to pass it.

TAKE ACTION: Help us! Add your voice to the nationwide grassroots groundswell and tell your Congressman: “Vote YES on Dr. Price’s ‘Keep the IRS Off Your Health Care’ billl!“

Dean Clancy is FreedomWorks’ VP for public policy. He leads our efforts to reverse the Washington health care takeover and establish patient-centered care.