HF 2148

as introduced - 81st Legislature (1999 - 2000) Posted on 12/15/2009 12:00am

  1.1                             A resolution
  1.2             for the purpose of reaffirming the sovereignty of the 
  1.3             states and of the people, and proposing principles by 
  1.4             which the sovereignty of the states and of the people 
  1.5             may be restored to their original intention under the 
  1.6             Constitution of the United States. 
  1.7      WHEREAS, more than two centuries ago, the sovereign states, 
  1.8   representing the sovereign people did, of their own volition, 
  1.9   ratify the Constitution of the United States; and 
  1.10     WHEREAS, in so doing, the states, in concerted action, 
  1.11  established the federal government to perform certain limited 
  1.12  and enumerated functions; and 
  1.13     WHEREAS, under the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution of 
  1.14  the United States, the powers not delegated to the federal 
  1.15  government were "reserved to the states respectively, or to the 
  1.16  people"; NOW, THEREFORE, 
  1.17     BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the State of 
  1.18  Minnesota hereby adopts the following declaration of sovereignty.
  1.19     Section 1. 
  1.20     We, the Legislature of the State of Minnesota, hereby 
  1.21     reaffirm the sovereignty of the states and of the people. 
  1.22     Section II. 
  1.23     Throughout the history of the United States, and especially 
  1.24     in recent decades, the federal government has, without 
  1.25     right, blatantly disregarded state sovereignty by 
  1.26     arrogating unto itself powers that were to have been 
  2.1      reserved to the states and to the people. 
  2.2      A.  It has conscripted states and their subordinate levels 
  2.3      of government to implement its programs through federal 
  2.4      mandates, funded and unfunded; 
  2.5      B.  It has requisitioned officers of states and their 
  2.6      subordinate levels of government to perform duties on its 
  2.7      behalf, bypassing state constitutional and legislative 
  2.8      processes; 
  2.9      C.  It has, as a result of expanding power, imprudently 
  2.10     increased spending, increased taxation, and increased 
  2.11     regulation, which have, in consequence, reduced economic 
  2.12     growth by unnecessarily discouraging investment and job 
  2.13     creation; 
  2.14     D.  It has, through deficit spending and other actions, 
  2.15     created massive federal obligations that threaten the 
  2.16     living standards of the people, the solvency of the states, 
  2.17     and the future of generations yet unborn; 
  2.18     E.  It has, by centralizing power in Washington, D.C., 
  2.19     created a "democratic deficit," a condition under which the 
  2.20     federal government has assumed control over functions of 
  2.21     government that should have been reserved to state and 
  2.22     local governments, making effective control of government 
  2.23     more difficult for the people; 
  2.24     F.  It has, through unwarranted judicial intervention, 
  2.25     interposed itself between the states and the people on 
  2.26     matters not of federal jurisdiction; 
  2.27     G.  It has, through imprudent review, systematically 
  2.28     expanded the power of Congress and the Executive by 
  2.29     usurping powers that were not intended under the 
  2.30     Constitution of the United States; 
  2.31     H.  It has evaded the restraints of the nation's 
  2.32     fundamental law, the Constitution of the United States, and 
  2.33     has in so doing engaged in the imposition of arbitrary 
  2.34     laws, administrative actions, and judicial decisions. 
  2.35     Through these actions, the federal government has usurped 
  2.36     the sovereignty of the states.  And, through these actions, 
  3.1      the federal government has usurped the sovereignty of the 
  3.2      people. 
  3.3      Section III. 
  3.4      We declare that the federal government cannot, on its own, 
  3.5      legitimately diminish the sovereignty of the states and of 
  3.6      the people as intended under the Constitution of the United 
  3.7      States. 
  3.8      The fundamental law of the nation may only be altered in 
  3.9      the manner prescribed by that fundamental law.  We are 
  3.10     convinced that the policy failures that have accompanied 
  3.11     expanded central authority provide, in themselves, powerful 
  3.12     testimony to the importance of limiting the federal 
  3.13     government to those powers enumerated in the Constitution 
  3.14     of the United states.  To correct these failures and to 
  3.15     secure a more favorable future for the nation, it is 
  3.16     necessary that the powers expropriated by the federal 
  3.17     government be returned to the states and to the people. 
  3.18     Section IV. 
  3.19     We therefore declare the following principles as necessary 
  3.20     to the restoration of the sovereignty of the states and of 
  3.21     the people, as required under the Tenth Amendment of the 
  3.22     Constitution of the United States. 
  3.23     A.  The federal government should be restored to the role 
  3.24     assigned to it under the Constitution of the United 
  3.25     States.  The powers usurped from the states and from the 
  3.26     people by the federal government should be returned in an 
  3.27     expeditious and orderly manner.  Mechanisms exist for 
  3.28     interstate cooperation where necessary, such as interstate 
  3.29     compacts, voluntary uniform standards, and amendments to 
  3.30     the Constitution of the United States. 
  3.31     B.  Constitutional clauses that have been the source of 
  3.32     illegitimate federal expansion should be restored to their 
  3.33     original meaning.  Federal expansion has often been based 
  3.34     upon unreasonably permissive interpretations of enumerated 
  3.35     powers under the Constitution of the United States, 
  3.36     especially the "commerce" clause. 
  4.1      C.  The federal government should not impose mandates, 
  4.2      unfunded or funded, on the states or on their subordinate 
  4.3      governments.  The Constitution of the United States 
  4.4      delineates federal responsibilities, and reserves all other 
  4.5      responsibilities to the states or to the people.  Federal 
  4.6      mandates on state or local governments are unnecessary and 
  4.7      inappropriate. 
  4.8      D.  The federal government should be the exclusive 
  4.9      financier of its programs.  By partially funding federal 
  4.10     programs, such as through matching grants, the federal 
  4.11     government distorts the priorities of state and local 
  4.12     governments, and establishes a democratic deficit that 
  4.13     virtually disenfranchises state and local voters.  The 
  4.14     federal government has a legal obligation to fully fund its 
  4.15     programs, and should neither require nor entice state or 
  4.16     local governments to participate in the funding of federal 
  4.17     programs. 
  4.18     E.  All federal government relationships with local 
  4.19     governments should be through the states. All governments 
  4.20     in the United States are the creation of the states, which 
  4.21     are the creation of the people.  One government, the 
  4.22     federal government, was created in concert by the states.  
  4.23     All other governments are the creation of, and subordinate 
  4.24     to the states respectively.  Direct federal 
  4.25     government-local government relationships are 
  4.26     inappropriate, except to the extent specifically authorized 
  4.27     by the constitution or laws of a particular state. 
  4.28     F.  The federal government should not assign federal 
  4.29     responsibilities to officers of state or local 
  4.30     governments.  Various federal laws designate state or local 
  4.31     government officers to perform federal functions.  The 
  4.32     federal government should enlist state officers or 
  4.33     departments to assist it in the performance of its duties 
  4.34     only when specifically authorized by the constitution or 
  4.35     laws of a particular state. 
  4.36     G.  The federal government's treaty making power should be 
  5.1      limited to powers that are clearly within the federal scope 
  5.2      of responsibility.  The states have delegated treaty making 
  5.3      powers only with respect to those areas of authority that 
  5.4      have been delegated to the federal government. 
  5.5      H.  Congress should not act to displace state and local 
  5.6      police power, and the courts should not permit such 
  5.7      displacement, except where the Constitution authorizes.  
  5.8      Congress has preempted entire areas of regulation that have 
  5.9      traditionally been matters of state and local police 
  5.10     power.  In addition, the federal courts have improperly 
  5.11     condoned these congressional assaults on local governance, 
  5.12     under the doctrine of implied preemption, the so-called 
  5.13     "dormant" commerce clause, and other constitutional 
  5.14     provisions. 
  5.15     I.  A Constitutional mechanism should be established that 
  5.16     would give the States a direct and dispositive role in 
  5.17     protecting their sovereign powers against unwarranted 
  5.18     encroachments pursuant to federal statutes and 
  5.19     regulations.  The Supreme Court of the United States, 
  5.20     itself an organ of the federal government, has forsaken the 
  5.21     constitutional principles of limited federal power and 
  5.22     state sovereignty.  Therefore, a constitutional amendment 
  5.23     should be proposed by Congress and ratified by the states 
  5.24     whereby a provision of federal law may be repealed upon the 
  5.25     adoption by two-thirds of the states during any five year 
  5.26     period of a "Resolution of Disapproval." 
  5.27     Section V. 
  5.28     In support of these principles, we commit ourselves to the 
  5.29     pursuit of such remedies as may be necessary to restore the 
  5.30     sovereignty of the states and of the people, by: 
  5.31     A.  Legal actions to challenge the illegitimate exercise of 
  5.32     federal power; 
  5.33     B.  Repeals of laws by which federal power has been 
  5.34     illegitimately expanded; 
  5.35     C.  Constitutional Amendments to curtail unwarranted 
  5.36  federal power; and 
  6.1      D.  Such other actions as may be appropriate. 
  6.2      BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
  6.3   State of Minnesota is directed to prepare copies of this 
  6.4   memorial and transmit them to the President of the United 
  6.5   States, the President and the Secretary of the United States 
  6.6   Senate, the Speaker and the Clerk of the United States House of 
  6.7   Representatives, and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in 
  6.8   Congress.