HJR 20: Relating to unfunded federal mandates and the Conference of the States.
00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 20 01 Relating to unfunded federal mandates and the Conference of the States. 02 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 03 WHEREAS the United States Constitution established a balanced system of 04 government and, through the Tenth Amendment, reserved all powers to the states or the 05 people that were not otherwise granted to the federal government or prohibited; and 06 WHEREAS, over many years, the federal government has dramatically expanded the 07 scope of its power, preempted state government authority, and increasingly treated states as 08 administrative subdivisions or as special interest groups, rather than as coequal partners; and 09 WHEREAS the number of unfunded federal mandates has grown exponentially during 10 the last 30 years and has profoundly distorted state budgets, thereby handcuffing the ability 11 of state leaders to provide appropriate and needed services to their constituencies; and 12 WHEREAS, since 1990, the federal government has enacted at least 42 major statutes 13 imposing burdensome and expensive regulations and requirements on states and localities, 14 which is nearly equal to all those enacted in the prior two decades combined; and
01 WHEREAS persistent state led endeavors have consistently failed to generate 02 substantial reaction or remedy from the federal government; and 03 WHEREAS the United States Supreme Court has repeatedly determined that the states 04 must look to the United States Congress and related political remedies for protection against 05 federal encroachments on the reserved powers of the states; and 06 WHEREAS the Council of State Governments, through its Intergovernmental Affairs 07 Committee, has been the champion of state sovereignty for many years; and 08 WHEREAS, in recent years, states have been the principal agents of government 09 reform, including updating their constitutions, modernizing and restructuring governmental 10 institutions, and they, along with local governments, have been the pioneers of government 11 innovation, thus responding to the needs of their citizens; and 12 WHEREAS the State of Alaska recognizes a sense of urgency in calling for the 13 Conference of the States, whereby each state government would send a delegation to develop 14 a comprehensive action plan to restore balance in the federal system; and 15 WHEREAS the Council of State Governments is an entity ideally suited to promote 16 and facilitate such a conference; and 17 WHEREAS the Conference of the States will communicate broad bipartisan public 18 concern on the extent to which the American political system has been distorted and provide 19 a formal forum for state governments to collectively propose constructive remedies for a more 20 balanced state-federal governance partnership for the 21st century; 21 BE IT RESOLVED by the Alaska State Legislature that a delegation of five voting 22 persons from the State of Alaska be appointed to represent the state at a Conference of the 23 States consisting of the governor, or a constitutional officer selected by the governor, and four 24 legislators, two from each house selected by the presiding officer of that house; that no more 25 than two of the legislators selected may be from the same political party; and that each 26 presiding officer designate two alternate legislator delegates, one from each party, who have 27 voting privileges in the absence of the primary delegates; and be it 28 FURTHER RESOLVED that the delegates to the Conference of the States propose, 29 debate, and vote on elements of an action plan to restore checks and balances between states 30 and the national government; that measures agreed upon be formalized in an instrument called 31 a States' Petition and returned to each delegation's state for consideration by the entire
01 legislature; and be it 02 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Conference of the States shall be convened under 03 the sec. 501(c)(3) auspices of the Council of State Governments in cooperation with the 04 National Governors' Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures no later 05 than 270 days after at least 26 legislatures adopt a similar resolution calling for a Conference 06 of the States; and be it 07 FURTHER RESOLVED that before the official convening of the Conference of the 08 States, the steering committee will draft provisions for the 09 (1) governing structure and procedural rules for the Conference; 10 (2) process for receiving rebalancing proposals; and 11 (3) financial and administrative functions of the Conference, including the 12 Council of State Governments as fiscal agent; and be it 13 FURTHER RESOLVED that the bylaws of the Conference of the States must 14 (1) conform to the provisions of this resolution; 15 (2) specify that each state delegation have one vote at the Conference; and 16 (3) specify that the Conference agenda be limited to fundamental, structural, 17 long-term reforms; and be it 18 FURTHER RESOLVED that upon the official convening of the Conference of the 19 States, the state delegations shall vote upon and approve the Conference's governing structure, 20 operating rules, and bylaws. 21 A COPY of this resolution shall be sent to the governor of each of Alaska's sister 22 states.