HJR 21: Relating to unfunded federal mandates and the Conference of the States.
00HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 21 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 federal government has dramatically expanded the scope of its power 04 and preempted state government authority and increasingly has treated states as administrative 05 subdivisions or as special interest groups, rather than as coequal partners; and 06 WHEREAS the federal government has generated massive deficits and continues to 07 mandate programs that state and local governments must administer; and 08 WHEREAS federal mandates require the State of Alaska and its local governments 09 to perform duties without consideration of local circumstances, costs, or capacity under threat 10 of financial penalties for noncompliance; and 11 WHEREAS federal mandates imposed without corresponding federal financial 12 assistance cause an excessive burden on Alaska's state and local governments that forces 13 Alaskan taxpayers to bear a combination of higher taxes or fees and reduced state and local 14 services; and
01 WHEREAS the number of unfunded federal mandates has grown exponentially during 02 the last 30 years and has profoundly distorted Alaska's state budgets, thereby handcuffing the 03 ability of state elected officials to provide appropriate and needed services to their 04 constituencies; and 05 WHEREAS the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that the cumulative cost 06 of new regulations imposed on state and local governments between 1983 and 1990 is between 07 $8,900,000,000 and $12,000,000,000; and 08 WHEREAS since 1990, the federal government has enacted at least 42 major statutes 09 imposing burdensome and expensive regulations and requirements on states and localities, 10 which is nearly equal to all those enacted in the prior two decades combined; and 11 WHEREAS the federal Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act have caused unintended 12 costs to Alaska such as research on ethanol reactions in arctic environments and costly and 13 unreasonable requirements to deal with nonpoint source water quality standards; and 14 WHEREAS previously imposed unfunded mandates have resulted in harsh pressures 15 on state and local budgets and the United States Congress finally appears willing to review 16 its past practice of imposing new unfunded mandates on state and local governments; and 17 WHEREAS the cumulative burden of these unfunded mandates directly affects the 18 citizens of Alaska; and 19 WHEREAS the State of Alaska recognizes a sense of urgency in calling for the 20 Conference of the States, whereby each state government would send a delegation to develop 21 a comprehensive action plan to restore balance in the federal system and to specifically 22 address unfunded federal mandates; 23 BE IT RESOLVED that the Alaska State Legislature endorses the efforts of national, 24 state, and local organizations to fully inform citizens about the effects of unfunded federal 25 mandates on state and local governments and individual citizens; and be it 26 FURTHER RESOLVED that a delegation of five voting persons from the State of 27 Alaska be appointed to represent the state at a Conference of the States consisting of the 28 governor, or a constitutional officer selected by the governor, and four legislators, two from 29 each house selected by the presiding officer of that house; that no more than two of the 30 legislators selected may be from the same political party; and that each presiding officer 31 designate two alternate legislator delegates, one from each party, who have voting privileges
01 in the absence of the primary delegates; and be it 02 FURTHER RESOLVED that the delegates to the Conference of the States propose, 03 debate, and vote on elements of an action plan to restore checks and balances between states 04 and the national government; that measures agreed upon be formalized in an instrument called 05 a States' Petition and returned to each delegation's state for consideration by the entire 06 legislature; and be it 07 FURTHER RESOLVED that the Conference of the States shall be convened under 08 the sec. 501(c)(3) auspices of the Council of State Governments in cooperation with the 09 National Governors' Association and the National Conference of State Legislatures no later 10 than 270 days after at least 26 legislatures adopt a similar resolution calling for a Conference 11 of the States; and be it 12 FURTHER RESOLVED that before the official convening of the Conference of the 13 States, the steering committee will draft provisions for the 14 (1) governing structure and procedural rules for the Conference; 15 (2) process for receiving rebalancing proposals; and 16 (3) financial and administrative functions of the Conference, including the 17 Council of State Governments as fiscal agent; and be it 18 FURTHER RESOLVED that the bylaws of the Conference of the States must 19 (1) conform to the provisions of this resolution; 20 (2) specify that each state delegation have one vote at the Conference; and 21 (3) specify that the Conference agenda be limited to fundamental, structural, 22 long-term reforms; and be it 23 FURTHER RESOLVED that upon the official convening of the Conference of the 24 States, the state delegations shall vote upon and approve the Conference's governing structure, 25 operating rules, and bylaws. 26 A COPY of this resolution shall be sent to the governor of each of Alaska's sister 27 states.