TUCSON, Ariz., Oct. 14, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --  The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons ("AAPS”) served a lawsuit on Oct 11, seeking to block the upcoming requirement that tens of millions Americans provide their personal information to federal agencies beginning Jan 1, 2025. The Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) imposes this new reporting requirement on more than 30 million small entities such as sports clubs, civic groups, and political organizations.

The CTA comprised only 21 pages, camouflaged among nearly 1,500 total pages in a rushed, end-of-year annual appropriation in 2020. With its threatened punishment of two years in federal jail, the CTA requires that tens of millions of ordinary, law-abiding Americans report their home addresses, birthdates, and driver's license or similar personal identifying numbers to the federal Financial Crimes Enforcement Network ("FinCEN”), the Complaint states.

FinCEN will then create a massive new federal database for monitoring everyday Americans. Federal investigatory jurisdiction would vastly expand under this law, AAPS's lead counsel, Andrew Schlafly states. "Most Americans are unaware of this extension in the reach of the federal government into purely local activities. This is the Orwellian Big Brother on steroids.”

AAPS filed this lawsuit in Amarillo, Texas. Small medical practices there and nationwide are being subjected to monitoring by the federal government in D.C.

"Nothing in the Constitution authorizes the federal government to monitor small medical practices and other local entities like this,” Mr. Schlafly points out. "Never before has the federal government been allowed to have such a broad police power over local activities,” he added.

Large businesses are exempt from the CTA if they have more than 20 full-time employees and more than $5 million in gross revenue. Also exempt are 501(c) organizations, such as recognized 501(c)(3) charity groups, as are political action committees (PACs) that support or oppose candidates for office.

"These exemptions are far too narrow, and this new requirement applies to most small entities,” Mr. Schlafly said. "This new law improperly chills the freedom of association that is essential to other freedoms.”

AAPS's lawsuit is pending in U.S. District Court in Amarillo, No. 2:24-cv-210-Z.

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons is a national organization representing physicians in all specialties since 1943.

Contact: Andrew Schlafly, (908) 719-8608, aschlafly@aol.com, or Jane M. Orient, M.D., (520) 323-3110, janeorientmd@gmail.com