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S.C.R. 3

             1     

STATE SOVEREIGNTY CONCURRENT

             2     
RESOLUTION

             3     
2010 GENERAL SESSION

             4     
STATE OF UTAH

             5     
Chief Sponsor: J. Stuart Adams

             6     
House Sponsor: Carl Wimmer

             7     
             8      LONG TITLE
             9      General Description:
             10          This concurrent resolution of the Legislature and the Governor reaffirms the
             11      sovereignty of the state of Utah under the Tenth Amendment of the United States
             12      Constitution.
             13      Highlighted Provisions:
             14          This resolution:
             15          .    reaffirms the state of Utah's residuary and inviolable sovereignty under the Tenth
             16      Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise
             17      enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United
             18      States; and
             19          .    strongly urges that all compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply
             20      under threat of civil or criminal penalty or sanction or that requires states to enact
             21      legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed.
             22      Special Clauses:
             23          None
             24     
             25      Be it resolved by the Legislature of the state of Utah, the Governor concurring therein:
             26          WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads: "The
             27      powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States,


             28      are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people";
             29          WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being
             30      that specifically granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States and
             31      no more;
             32          WHEREAS, the scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment signifies that the
             33      federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states;
             34          WHEREAS, the states are often treated as agents of the federal government;
             35          WHEREAS, many federal laws directly contravene the Tenth Amendment;
             36          WHEREAS, it is important that all levels of government work together to serve the
             37      citizens of the United States by respecting the constitutional provisions that properly delineate
             38      the authority of federal, state, and local governments;
             39          WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment assures that we, the people of the United States,
             40      and each sovereign state in the Union of States, now have, and have always had, rights the
             41      federal government may not usurp;
             42          WHEREAS, Article IV, Section 4 of the United States Constitution declares in part,
             43      "The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of
             44      Government," and the Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution further declares that
             45      "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or
             46      disparage others retained by the people";
             47          WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court ruled in New York v. United States, 505
             48      U.S. 144 (1992), that Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory
             49      processes of the states by compelling them to enact and enforce regulatory programs;
             50          WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court, in Printz v. United States/Mack v.
             51      United States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997), reaffirmed that the Constitution of the United States
             52      established a system of "dual sovereignty" that retains "a residuary and inviolable sovereignty"
             53      by the states;
             54          WHEREAS, this separation of the two spheres is one of the Constitution's structural
             55      protections of liberty; and
             56          WHEREAS, a number of proposals by previous administrations, some now pending
             57      proposals by the present administration, and some proposals by Congress may further violate
             58      the Tenth Amendment restriction on the scope of federal power:


             59          NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of the state of Utah, the
             60      Governor concurring therein, acknowledge and reaffirm residuary and inviolable sovereignty of
             61      the state of Utah under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all
             62      powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of
             63      the United States.
             64          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislature and the Governor strongly urge the
             65      United States Congress to prohibit or repeal all compulsory federal legislation that directs
             66      states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalty or sanction or that requires states to
             67      enact legislation or lose federal funding.
             68          BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this resolution be sent to the President of
             69      the United States, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United
             70      States House of Representatives, the President of the Senate of each state's legislature, and to
             71      the members of Utah's congressional delegation.




Legislative Review Note
    as of 11-30-09 7:15 AM


Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel


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