01/31/1995 05:05 PM House WTR

 HJR 20 - CONFERENCE OF THE STATES                                           
                                                                               
 The final measure to come before the committee was HJR 20,                    
 sponsored by CHAIRMAN BARNES.  She stated that this resolution                
 authorizes the state of Alaska to send an official delegation to              
 represent the people of Alaska at a Conference of the States, in              
 1996.  This conference would be the first formal meeting of the 50            
 states since 1786.  She noted that the conference will convene no             
 later than 270 days after at least 26 legislatures adopt similar              
 resolutions and that Alaska would be represented by five voting               
 members consisting of the governor and four legislators, two from             
 each body.  The action plan to be voted on at this conference will            
 be called a States' Petition.  It will be presented to each state             
 in the form of a resolution for ratification, then presented to               
 Congress as the will of the states of the Union.  Chairman Barnes             
 said that since 1990 alone, the federal government has enacted over           
 40 major statutes imposing expensive regulations and requirements             
 on state and local governments.  This is first step toward                    
 reversing the trend and restoring the balanced system of government           
 envisioned by the Tenth Amendment.                                            
                                                                               
 Number 100                                                                    
                                                                               
 BRIAN WEBERG, Program Director, Legislative Management, National              
 Conference of State Legislators (NCSL), supports the measure and              
 added that three states, Kentucky, Utah, Virginia, as of January              
 27, 1995, had passed this resolution.  In six other states, it has            
 passed at least one house chamber and has been introduced in 19               
 other states.  He said he anticipates more states becoming                    
 interested in this type of legislation.                                       
                                                                               
 MR. WEBERG stated that many states have Tenth Amendments on their             
 agendas and the bill is a way to bring the issues forward in a                
 coordinated way.                                                              
                                                                               
 Number 142                                                                    
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN BARNES added that she's pleased to see NCSL take a more              
 active part in state's rights' issues.                                        
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE ELDON MULDER echoed Chairman Barnes remarks about              
 the leadership role that NCSL has taken in regards to states'                 
 rights.                                                                       
                                                                               
 Number 155                                                                    
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE PHILLIPS asked what kind of feedback had NCSL                  
 received from Congress.                                                       
                                                                               
 MR. WEBERG reported that Congress was very receptive to this kind             
 of initiative.  He stated that a meeting would take place in March,           
 in Washington, D.C.  He said state legislators, with the new                  
 congressional leaders and Administration, will get a good notion of           
 how they feel and, probably at that point, NCSL would know if this            
 is going to go forward.                                                       
                                                                               
 MR. WEBERG also said that since no states' conference of this                 
 nature had taken place in over 200 years, both the press and public           
 would be focused on this.  If a unified opinion comes out of this,            
 it's going to be heard.                                                       
                                                                               
 Number 188                                                                    
                                                                               
 MR. KREINHEDER, OMB, offered a statement of support from the                  
 Knowles Administration for HJR 20.  The Administration believes               
 some of the important areas would be welfare reform, education,               
 environmental protection and health care.  In many other cases,               
 what works for some states will not work in some places.                      
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN BARNES expressed to Mr. Kreinheder how appreciative she              
 was of the Administration's support and asked him to convey her               
 sentiments to the Administration.                                             
                                                                               
 Number 214                                                                    
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE MULDER voiced concern that the proposed convention             
 through this legislation was a viable alternative to a                        
 Constitutional Convention.                                                    
                                                                               
 REPRESENTATIVE DAVIS made the motion to move HJR 20 out of                    
 committee.                                                                    
                                                                               
 CHAIRMAN BARNES asked if there was an objection.  Hearing none, it            
 was so ordered.