Resolution Requesting Congress of the United States to Enact Legislation that Requires Congress to Specify the Constitutional Authority for the Enactment of Laws Exposed

The Resolution Requesting Congress of the United States to Enact Legislation that Requires Congress to Specify the Constitutional Authority for the Enactment of Laws does not include adoption or approval information. ALEC has attempted to distance itself from this piece of legislation after the launch of ALECexposed.org in 2011, but it has done nothing to get it repealed in the states where it previously pushed for it to be made into law.

ALEC Resolution Text

Summary

A resolution for the purpose of petitioning the Congress of the United States to enact legislation that requires Congress to specify the constitutional authority for the enactment of law; prohibits federal agency rules of regulations from preempting or otherwise interfering with state or local powers without express statutory authority; and requires a list of factual findings, establishing a substantial nexus between the regulatory effect of the proposed law and interstate commerce if Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3, of the Constitution is identified as the Constitutional provision granting authority to Congress for its proposed law.

Model Legislation

WHEREAS, the federal government was established by the states through the ratification of the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the federal government was granted carefully limited powers under the Constitution of the United States and the Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides that "the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people"; and

WHEREAS, the Constitution of the United States established a system in which the states ceded only certain powers to the federal government; and

WHEREAS, the framers recognized that separation of powers is essential and ensured that the rights of the people would be protected by establishing checks and balances not only between the branches of the federal government but also between the federal government and state governments; and

WHEREAS, the legislative, executive and judicial branches of the federal government have by many actions usurped powers reserved by the Constitution of the United States to the states and to the people; and

WHEREAS, the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government, the relationship between the federal government and state governments established by the Constitution of the United States has been severely unbalanced; and

WHEREAS, the federal judiciary, itself a branch of the federal government, has failed to stop many of these federal excesses; and

WHEREAS, less federal preemption means states can act as true laboratories of democracy, seeking novel social and economic policies without risk to the nation; and

WHEREAS, to restore the balance of power between the federal government and state governments intended by the framers of the Constitution of the United States, the federal government must carefully consider, and be accountable for, the constitutional boundaries of its jurisdiction to protect the states and the people from the unwarranted assumption of power by the federal government.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the state of {insert state}, a majority of all members of the two houses concurring, that the One Hundred and Fourth Congress of the United States enact legislation requiring the Congress of the United States to cite the section of the Constitution that grants Congress the authority to enact proposed laws. The {insert state} Legislature supports the inclusion in such legislation:

1. That Congress be required to state explicitly the extent to which the proposed section of law preempts any state, local or tribal law, and if so, an explanation of the reasons for such preemption.
2. That federal agency rules or regulations may not preempt or otherwise interfere with State or local powers without express statutory authority. Agencies must allow states notice and an opportunity to be heard in the rule-making process,
3. That if Article I. Section 8. Clause 3, of the Constitution of the United States, is identified as the Constitutional provision granting authority to Congress for its proposed law, Congress must report a list of factual findings establishing a substantial nexus between the regulatory effect of the proposed law and interstate commerce.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED the Secretary of State of {insert state} transmit certified copies of this Resolution to the president of the United States; and to each Member of the Senate of the United States; and the House of Representatives of the United States; and the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of the Senate of each state legislature in the United States.