Angle files initiative to outlaw health exchanges in Nevada

CARSON CITY — Conservative activist and failed U.S. Senate candidate Sharron Angle filed a petition Tuesday to outlaw the Silver State Health Exchange in Nevada.

Angle filed her Healthcare Freedom Protection Act with the secretary of state’s office, but needs to collect 101,667 signatures from voters by June 17 to put the plan on the Nov. 4 election ballot. To amend the state constitution, the plan must be approved by voters in November and again November 2016.

Angle did not respond to a call for information Tuesday.

She could have filed a petition calling for repealing the state law that created the Health Exchange that, with voter approval, would have gone into effect after the November election. By seeking a constitutional amendment, she prevents its abolition at least for another two years.

By then, then Obamacare will have been in effect for nearly three years unless Congress kills it.

The Silver State Health Exchange — the agency set up to carry out the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in Nevada — was approved by a vote of every state legislator, including Republicans, along with Gov. Brian Sandoval in 2011.

Angle was a Republican legislator from Washoe County between 1998 and 2006, but has not been seen in the Legislative Building in recent years. When she was a legislator, votes in the Assembly often were jokingly referred to as “41 to Angle.” She regularly was the only opponent on many bills.

Funds to establish the Silver State Exchange come from appropriations by the federal government.

Angle, a Tea Party favorite, is most prominent for beating Sue Lowden, Danny Tarkanian and others in the 2010 Republican primary for U.S. Senate in 2010. That November she lost the race by 5.7 percentage points to incumbent Harry Reid in one of most spirited and expensive campaigns in state history.

During that campaign, Angle seldom spoke with the Nevada press, preferring to talk only with nationally recognized conservative commentators. She has made no announcements on whether she will seek any Nevada offices this year. Filing begins March 3.

In recent years, it has become increasingly difficult for organizations to put initiatives before voters. Critics almost always challenge petition language in court. Even if a judge changes a petition by only one word, any signatures gathered by proponents must be thrown out.

Also, organizations frequently employ circulators who are paid for each signature they collect. It can cost $1 million to collect enough signatures to put a petition on the ballot.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal, or call 775-687-3901. Follow him on Twitter @edisonvogel.