Opinion ID: 2659142
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the state action: hawai‘i follows the federal

Text: POLICY AND DIRECTION The logical corollary to the national policy that Congress set out in the Welfare Reform Act is that, where the federal program is constitutional, as it is here, states cannot be forced 7 In an effort to distinguish the Bankruptcy Clause from the Naturalization Clause, the dissent argues that the Equal Protection Clause places constitutional constraints on states that are not present in the bankruptcy context. This argument misunderstands the analogy to the Bankruptcy Clause. We reference the Bankruptcy Clause only to show that uniformity is not undermined where states adopt different paths in effectuating a larger federal scheme or policy. That the Naturalization Clause is and has historically been subject to constitutional constraints not applicable to the Bankruptcy Clause says nothing about the more relevant question of whether uniformity is undermined by the existence of differences among the states. In the context of both clauses, the answer to that question is no, and the dissent offers no controlling authority to the contrary. Like the Tenth Circuit in Soskin, we conclude that the discretion afforded to states under the Welfare Reform Act does not undermine the uniformity established under that statute. Soskin, 353 F.3d at 1257. 22 KORAB V. FINK to replace the federal funding Congress has removed. See Pimentel v. Dreyfus, 670 F.3d 1096, 1109 (9th Cir. 2012). We considered a similar situation in Sudomir v. McMahon, 767 F.2d 1456, 1457 (9th Cir. 1985), where plaintiffs brought an equal protection challenge to California’s determination that a particular category of aliens was ineligible for benefits under the federal statute instructing states in the application of the cooperative federal-state Aid to Families with Dependent Children program. As we said in Sudomir, “[i]t would make no sense to say that Congress has plenary power in the area of immigration and naturalization and then hold that the Constitution impels the states to refrain from adhering to the federal guidelines.” Id. at 1466. Like the plaintiffs in Sudomir, Korab argues, and the dissent agrees, that the state has a constitutional obligation to make up for the federal benefits that Congress took away from him. Putting this argument in practical funding terms, states would be compelled to provide wholly state-funded benefits equal to Medicaid to all aliens in the discretionary third category, thus effectively rendering meaningless the discretion Congress gave to the states in 8 U.S.C. § 1622(a). See Sudomir, 767 F.2d at 1466 (“To so hold would amount to compelling the states to adopt each and every more generous classification which, on its face, is not irrational.”). As the New York Court of Appeals put it in upholding a state program that provided partial benefits to aliens who were federally ineligible, the right to equal protection does not “require the State to remediate the effects of [the Welfare Reform Act].” Khrapunskiy v. Doar, 909 N.E.2d 70, 77 (N.Y. 2009); see also Finch v. Commonwealth Health Ins. Connector Auth., 946 N.E.2d 1262, 1286 (Mass. 2011) (Gants, J. concurring in part and dissenting in part) (“It is inconsistent with Mathews to require the State to undo the KORAB V. FINK 23 effect of Congress’s decision and replace the funds that Congress, under its plenary power over aliens, determined it would not provide.”). Congress has drawn the relevant alienage classifications, and Hawai‘i’s only action here is its decision regarding the funding it will provide to aliens in the third, discretionary category created by Congress—an expenditure decision. Korab fails to offer any evidence that Hawai‘i, in making that decision, has not closely “follow[ed] the federal direction” and adhered to the requirements prescribed by Congress in its provision of state benefits. Plyler, 457 U.S. at 219 n.19. Notably, Korab has not even alleged that the state expenditures for health insurance for aliens within the discretionary category created by Congress are less than the state expenditures for health insurance for others.8 Even 8 At this stage of the proceedings, we harbor serious doubts that Korab has carried his initial burden to establish a claim of disparity vis-a-vis the state’s actions. Under Medicaid, citizens and eligible aliens are covered under a plan funded by both federal and state funds. By contrast, Basic Health Hawai‘i is funded solely by the state. Here, however, Korab has not claimed that COFA Residents are receiving less per capita state funding than citizens or qualified aliens. Finch, 946 N.E.2d at 1288 (Gants, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part) (“[S]trict scrutiny is the appropriate standard of review to evaluate a State’s alienage classification only where the State’s per capita expenditures for the plaintiff aliens are substantially less than the per capita amount contributed by the State for similarly situated Commonwealth Care participants . . . .”). Nor has Korab offered any evidence that the state’s average expenditures on behalf of COFA Residents in Basic Health Hawai‘i are less than the amount the state contributes for citizens and qualified aliens eligible for Medicaid. On this record, Hawai‘i “does nothing more than refuse to expend State monies to restore the Federal funds lost by Congress’s constitutional exercise of its plenary power.” Id.; Hong Pham v. Starkowski, 16 A.3d 635, 646 (Conn. 2011) (concluding that Connecticut’s elimination of state-funded health insurance for aliens 24 KORAB V. FINK assuming arguendo that Hawai‘i’s discretionary decision not to provide optional coverage for COFA Residents constitutes alienage-based discrimination, that decision, which is indisputably authorized by the Welfare Reform Act, is subject to rational-basis review. The posture of Korab’s constitutional challenge—essentially a complaint about state spending—coupled with the legitimacy of the federal statutory framework, leads to this conclusion. The dissent urges a contrary result, seizing upon the Supreme Court’s statement in Graham that “Congress does not have the power to authorize the individual States to violate the Equal Protection Clause.” 403 U.S. at 382. We acknowledge the rhetorical force of this proposition, but, like the Tenth Circuit, conclude that the “proposition is almost tautological.” Soskin, 353 F.3d at 1254. The constitutional question before us is not whether Congress may authorize Hawai‘i to violate the Equal Protection Clause but rather “what constitutes such a violation when Congress has (clearly) expressed its will regarding a matter relating to aliens,”9 as Congress has done through the Welfare Reform merely implemented the Act’s restrictions and did not create any alienagebased classifications). Nevertheless, because we vacate the district court’s grant of the preliminary injunction on the ground that rational basis, rather than strict scrutiny, is the appropriate standard of scrutiny, we need not resolve this evidentiary question at this stage. 9 The dissent claims that our reference to Congress’s clearly expressed will demonstrates our “confusion as to whether this an equal protection or a preemption case.” Dissent at 67 n.7. We are not confused. To determine the applicable level of constitutional scrutiny in this equal protection case, we ask whether Hawai‘i is following the federal direction, see Plyer, 457 U.S. at 219 n.19, which in turn, demands consideration of Congress’s intent in establishing a uniform federal policy through the Welfare Reform Act, Soskin, 353 F.3d at 1254–56. That Congress’s will KORAB V. FINK 25 Act. Id. Our determination that rational-basis review applies to Hawai‘i’s conduct is consistent with Graham and the Supreme Court’s equal protection cases because Hawai‘i is merely following the federal direction set forth by Congress under the Welfare Reform Act. See Plyer, 457 U.S. at 219 n.19. At bottom, the dissent reaches the wrong conclusion because it asks the wrong question and invites a circuit split.10 Soskin, 353 F.3d at 1254–56. Accordingly, we vacate the preliminary injunction and remand to the district court for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.11 See Doe v. Reed, 586 F.3d 671, 676 (9th is also the touchstone of preemption analysis does not render it irrelevant to the determination of the scrutiny required for our equal protection inquiry. See Plyer, 457 U.S. at 219 n.19; Sudomir, 767 F.2d at 1466. 10 Beyond asking the wrong question, the dissent muddies its own analysis by continually shifting the target of its constitutional inquiry. On one hand, the dissent argues that “the state of Hawai‘i . . . is ultimately responsible” for the “denial of equal benefits to COFA Residents,” Dissent at 58, and that we must subject “Hawai‘i’s actions” to strict scrutiny, Dissent at 59. On the other hand, the dissent acknowledges that Congress, through the Welfare Reform Act, “was giving states broad discretion to discriminate against aliens in the provision of welfare benefits” but concludes that Congress lacked the constitutional power to do so. Dissent at 68–69. So which is it? Does the dissent challenge the constitutionality of Hawai‘i’s actions, Congress’s, or both? The dissent’s own mixing and matching on this point underscores why Hawai‘i’s conduct should be viewed as part and parcel of the federal welfare scheme, a scheme that is not challenged by Korab and has been deemed constitutional. See, e.g., Lewis, 252 F.3d at 582–84; Shalala, 189 F.3d at 603–08. 11