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4 

CALIFORNIA v. TEXAS 

ALITO, J., dissenting 

Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate greenhouse gases) on 
the theory that failure to do so would cause the ocean to rise
and reduce the size of the Commonwealth.  See Massachu-
setts v. EPA, 549 U. S. 497, 521–526 (2007).  On the other 
hand,  when  Texas  recently  tried  to  sue  to  press  different
legal issues in an original action, the Court would not even
allow it to file its complaint.  See Texas v. California, post, 
p. ___ (ALITO, J., dissenting).

In this suit, as I will explain, Texas and the other state
plaintiffs have standing, and now that the “tax” imposed by
the individual mandate is set at $0, the mandate cannot be 
sustained under the taxing power.  As a result, it is clearly
unconstitutional,  and  to  the  extent  that  the  provisions  of 
the ACA that burden the States are inextricably linked to 
the individual mandate, they too are unenforceable. 

I 
A 
The  Patient  Protection  and  Affordable  Care  Act  (ACA), 
124 Stat. 119, comprehensively reengineered our country’s
healthcare laws.  The Act itself totals 906 pages, and thou-
sands  of  pages  of  regulations  have  been  issued  to  imple-
ment it.  At its core, the ACA includes a series of “closely
interrelated” provisions, NFIB, 567 U. S., at 691 (joint dis-
sent), that impose a bevy of new legal obligations on indi-
viduals, insurers, employers, and States.

A critical component of the Act’s design was the individ-
ual mandate, which provides that each “applicable individ-
ual shall . . . ensure that the individual . . . is covered under 
minimum essential coverage.”  26 U. S. C. §5000A(a).  Orig-
inally, most individuals who were subject to but disobeyed 
this  command  were  liable  for  what  the  Act  called  a 
“[s]hared responsibility payment” or “penalty.”  §5000A(b).
The  individual  mandate  was  “closely  intertwined”  with 
—————— 
us.  See  Steel  Co.  v.  Citizens  for  Better  Environment,  523  U. S.  83,  95 
(1998).