HJR 8: Relating to mandates and other conditions imposed on the states by the federal government.
00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 8 01 Relating to mandates and other conditions imposed on the states by the federal 02 government. 03 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 04 WHEREAS the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States states: 05 "The powers not delegated to the United States by the 06 Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the 07 States respectively, or to the people."; and 08 WHEREAS the Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that 09 specifically granted by the United States Constitution and no more; and 10 WHEREAS the scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment means that the federal 11 government was created by the states specifically to assume the responsibility for exercising 12 certain powers on behalf of the union as a whole, including the responsibility to provide the 13 funding needed to carry out those powers; and 14 WHEREAS in recent years the states have been demonstrably treated as tools of the
01 federal government used to carry out federal policy while bearing the costs of that policy; and 02 WHEREAS many federal mandates are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment; 03 and 04 WHEREAS the United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States, 05 112 S.Ct. 2408 (1992), that the Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative processes 06 of the states; and 07 WHEREAS the management of fish and wildlife resources by the federal government 08 within the State of Alaska is not authorized by the United States Constitution and is a gross 09 abrogation of power reserved to the several states thereunder; and 10 WHEREAS a number of proposals from previous administrations and some now pending 11 from the present administration and from the Congress would further violate the Tenth 12 Amendment of the United States Constitution; and 13 WHEREAS the powers of the Congress are itemized in art. I, sec.8, of the United States 14 Constitution, and the Congress should concentrate on carrying out those important duties while 15 leaving local matters to each of the states to resolve based upon the unique needs and 16 circumstances of each state; and 17 WHEREAS numerous resolutions have been forwarded to the federal government by 18 various state legislatures without any response or result from the Congress or the federal 19 executive branch; 20 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature hereby claims sovereignty under 21 the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise 22 enumerated and granted to the federal government by that constitution; and be it 23 FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution serves as notice and demand to the federal 24 government, to immediately cease and desist, 25 (1) imposing mandates on the states that are beyond the scope of its authority 26 under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and 27 (2) making any efforts to regulate, manage, or control the utilization of fish and 28 wildlife resources found within the State of Alaska. 29 COPIES of this resolution shall be sent to the Honorable Bill Clinton, President of the 30 United States; the Honorable Al Gore, Jr., Vice-President of the United States and President of 31 the U.S. Senate; the Honorable Strom Thurmond, President Pro Tempore of the U.S. Senate; the
01 Honorable Newt Gingrich, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives; to the Honorable Ted 02 Stevens and the Honorable Frank Murkowski, U.S. Senators, and the Honorable Don Young, 03 U.S. Representative, members of the Alaska delegation in Congress; and to the governor of each 04 of Alaska's sister states.