00HOUSE CS FOR SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 29(TRA) am H                                                                   
01 Relating to federal efforts to require the use of motorcycle helmets in Alaska.                                         
02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:                                                               
03  WHEREAS the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, part of the original Bill                                        
04 of Rights, reads as follows:  "The powers not delegated to the United States by the                                     
05 Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the                    
06 people"; and                                                                                                            
07  WHEREAS the limits on congressional authority to regulate state activities prescribed                                  
08 by the Tenth Amendment have gradually been eroded, and federal mandates to the states in                                
09 these protected areas have become almost commonplace; and                                                               
10  WHEREAS the regulation of traffic and motor vehicle safety laws are constitutionally                                   
11 the province of state, not congressional, authority; and                                                                
12  WHEREAS a recently passed federal mandate would reduce the apportionment of                                            
13 federal highway funds to states that do not enact statutes requiring the use of helmets by                              
14 motorcyclists; and                                                                                                      

01  WHEREAS, while the stated goals of this federal mandate to reduce highway fatalities                                   
02 and injuries through increased use of motorcycle helmets are certainly praiseworthy, it is the                          
03 opinion of the legislature that the passage of such legislation by the U.S. Congress is at least                        
04 an inappropriate federal mandate and at most a blatant transgression upon the state's                                   
05 regulatory authority under the Tenth Amendment;                                                                         
06  BE IT RESOLVED that the Congress is urged to refrain from imposing upon the                                            
07 states' constitutional authority to regulate traffic and motor vehicle safety within their                              
08 respective boundaries, and specifically to repeal any law mandating the passage of state laws                           
09 requiring the use of motorcycle helmets.                                                                                
10  COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President                                  
11 of the United States and President of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Robert C. Byrd, President                          
12 Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Thomas S. Foley, Speaker of the U.S. House                                
13 of Representatives; and to the Honorable Ted Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski,                                 
14 U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska                                  
15 delegation in Congress.