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H.C.R. 1

             1     

CONCURRENT RESOLUTION ON

             2     
INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND STATE

             3     
GOVERNMENTS

             4     
2010 GENERAL SESSION

             5     
STATE OF UTAH

             6     
Chief Sponsor: Sheryl L. Allen

             7     
Senate Sponsor: Mark B. Madsen

             8      Cosponsors:
             9      Jackie BiskupskiEric K. HutchingsPhil Riesen              10     
             11      LONG TITLE
             12      Committee Note:
             13          The Utah International Trade Commission recommended this bill.
             14      General Description:
             15          This concurrent resolution of the Legislature and the Governor urges Congress to
             16      improve federal-state consultation on international trade, including improving the
             17      availability of data to states necessary to evaluate the impact of free trade agreements
             18      on economic development within the states and state authority.
             19      Highlighted Provisions:
             20          This resolution:
             21          .    urges Congress to improve federal-state consultation on matters of international
             22      trade and improve the availability of data to states regarding international trade
             23      agreements and their impact on the states; and
             24          .    provides for the distribution of the resolution.
             25      Special Clauses:
             26          None
             27     


             28      Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
             29          WHEREAS, the economic prosperity of the United States is best served by embracing
             30      free and fair trade in global markets, investing in innovative research and technologies, and
             31      providing assistance to workers impacted by technology and trade trends;
             32          WHEREAS, expanding trade opportunities for American workers and businesses
             33      depends on cooperation between the federal government and the states;
             34          WHEREAS, the trade liberalization efforts of the early 1990s and trade agreements
             35      such as the North American Free Trade Agreement and the World Trade Organization Uruguay
             36      Round agreements have increased the need for state policymakers to play a greater role in
             37      international trade decisions;
             38          WHEREAS, trade liberalization has transformed the historical state-federal division of
             39      power into one of necessary and critical partnership, and thereby taxed state agency resources
             40      in determining the impact on state laws and regulations;
             41          WHEREAS, state sovereignty should be preserved by the federal government in trade
             42      promotion activities;
             43          WHEREAS, states often lack a clearly defined institutional trade policy structure and
             44      resources, making it difficult to handle requests from trading partners and federal agencies, and
             45      to articulate a unified state stance on trade issues;
             46          WHEREAS, recent trade agreements have proceeded beyond just discussion of tariffs
             47      and quotas and now substantially address and affect government regulation, taxation,
             48      procurement, and economic development policies that are historically legislated and
             49      implemented at state and local levels;
             50          WHEREAS, recent trade agreements that proceed beyond tariffs and quotas intersect
             51      with traditional areas of state authority under the 10th Amendment of the United States
             52      Constitution, such as regulating the environment, health, and safety and, thus, have a major
             53      impact on the states' continuing authority to legislate and regulate in these areas;
             54          WHEREAS, international lawsuits may be brought against the United States alleging
             55      that its states and localities have violated trade agreements;
             56          WHEREAS, international trade agreements must ensure that non-discriminatory state
             57      laws and regulations adopted for a public purpose and with due process are not preempted or
             58      otherwise undermined and weakened by international sanctions or penalties;


             59          WHEREAS, states' interests must be paramount during the negotiation of international
             60      agreements given the direct impact on their police powers, policies, and programs;
             61          WHEREAS, there is a need for a strong federal-state trade policy consultation
             62      mechanism;
             63          WHEREAS, the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee, a state-supported
             64      advisory committee to the United States Trade Representative, plays an important role in
             65      providing state input to the United States Trade Representative but which is limited in its
             66      effectiveness by an inability to share classified information with relevant state officials and
             67      members of the general public;
             68          WHEREAS, compartmentalization of information within the Intergovernmental Policy
             69      Advisory Committee prevents members from gathering important and relevant information
             70      from those state officials and members of the general public;
             71          WHEREAS, in August 2004, the Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee
             72      recommended that a federal-state International Trade Policy Commission would be an ideal
             73      resource for objective trade policy analysis and would foster communication among federal and
             74      state trade policy officials;
             75          WHEREAS, the creation of an effective federal-state trade policy infrastructure would
             76      assist states in understanding the scope of federal trade efforts, would assist federal agencies in
             77      understanding the various state trade processes, and would give states meaningful input into the
             78      development and implementation of United States Trade Representative's activities;
             79          WHEREAS, federal-state consultation should include the timely and comprehensive
             80      sharing of information on the substance and likely impact of trade agreements on state laws and
             81      regulations, appropriate use of the state single points of contact, improved trade data to assess
             82      the impact of proposed and existing agreements, and a reasonable opportunity for meaningful
             83      input by the states; and
             84          WHEREAS, in 2006, the Utah State Legislature statutorily created the Utah
             85      International Trade Commission to study and make recommendations to the Legislature
             86      concerning the impact of international agreements adopted by the United States on the
             87      Legislature's constitutional power to regulate state affairs, public and private, and to promote
             88      Utah exports:
             89          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the


             90      Governor concurring therein, urge Congress to improve federal-state consultation on
             91      international trade, including improving the availability of data to states necessary to evaluate
             92      the impact of free trade agreements on economic development within the states and state
             93      authority.
             94          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be sent to the members of
             95      Utah's Congressional Delegation, the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the
             96      Intergovernmental Policy Advisory Committee, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, the U.S.
             97      House Ways and Means Committee, the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, and the
             98      President of the U.S. Senate.




Legislative Review Note
    as of 11-19-09 1:00 PM


Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel


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