By Illinois Public Radio
URBANA, Ill. – Illinois Congressman John Shimkus said that if he's named chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, a priority will be a vote on repealing the federal healthcare reform law.
The Collinsville Republican said that he doesn't think a repeal can make it through the Senate, where Democrats still hold a majority. But Shimkus says there may be changes that both Republicans and the Obama administration can agree on.
"Hopefully there will be some that the administration helps identify as problems that we fix, that will not be controversial," Shimkus said,"We just get through the process. Obviously there'll be things that they'll want to keep, and we're just going to have to have those fights."
Shimkus said that one change could be the repeal of a requirement in the health care law that companies issue 1099 tax forms whenever they buy more than $600 in goods or services in a given year. Shimkus says the millions of new tax documents that result would be a burden on small businesses.