By Chisum H.C.R. No. 18
74R1867 CCK-D
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
1-1 WHEREAS, The history of the adoption of the United States
1-2 Constitution and Bill of Rights makes clear that the framers of
1-3 those documents intended a system of federalism in which the
1-4 national government and states were to be equal partners in
1-5 achieving the goals of American self-governance; and
1-6 WHEREAS, In The Federalist Papers, James Madison and
1-7 Alexander Hamilton clarified that the assumption of new powers by
1-8 the national government would leave the states still sovereign in
1-9 areas of authority outside those constitutionally enumerated as
1-10 possessed by the national government; and
1-11 WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment, the last item in a Bill of
1-12 Rights promised to appease anti-federalist sentiment, reiterated
1-13 the principle stated by Madison and Hamilton, providing that "(T)he
1-14 powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor
1-15 prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States
1-16 respectively, or to the people"; and
1-17 WHEREAS, Over the last two centuries, the courts have
1-18 provided little substantive interpretation of that amendment, while
1-19 the government in Washington, D.C., has expanded its powers by
1-20 proactive constitutional interpretation, leading to a situation in
1-21 which issues tend toward a single national solution and the
1-22 opportunity for experimental democracy by the 50 states is
1-23 relentlessly eroded; and
1-24 WHEREAS, Increasingly, the states are saddled with unfunded
2-1 federal mandates, the implementation of which robs them of revenue
2-2 that might otherwise be applied to alternative, and more
2-3 innovative, public investment as determined by the voters and
2-4 leadership of each state; and
2-5 WHEREAS, In 1989, the Intergovernmental Partnership Task
2-6 Force of the Council of State Governments issued a report
2-7 containing proposals for restoring greater balance to America's
2-8 system of federalism; and
2-9 WHEREAS, More recently, the National Governors' Association,
2-10 the National Conference of State Legislatures, and the United
2-11 States Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations have
2-12 called for summit meetings on the subject of federalism; and
2-13 WHEREAS, Recognizing that the collective voice of the 50
2-14 states is geographically dispersed, concerned state officials have
2-15 proposed an informal and bipartisan Conference of the States for
2-16 the summer of 1995, to be attended by delegations from the several
2-17 states; and
2-18 WHEREAS, Delegates would focus narrowly on the subject of
2-19 structural reform in the system of federalism, and the product of
2-20 their deliberations would be submitted to the legislatures and
2-21 governors of the 50 states for their formal consideration; and
2-22 WHEREAS, The Republican and Democratic governors of Utah and
2-23 Nebraska, respectively, are working toward gathering support for
2-24 the Conference of the States proposal, and the Council of State
2-25 Governments has agreed to serve as coordinator and sponsor of the
2-26 effort; now, therefore, be it
2-27 RESOLVED, That the 74th Legislature of the State of Texas
3-1 hereby authorize a delegation to represent Texas at a Conference of
3-2 the States for the purpose of reexamining this nation's system of
3-3 federalism and devising means to constitutionally reassert the
3-4 principle of state sovereignty; and, be it further
3-5 RESOLVED, That the governor and presiding officers of the
3-6 legislature have authority to determine the size, composition,
3-7 membership, and chair of the Texas delegation to the conference;
3-8 and, be it further
3-9 RESOLVED, That Texas agree to parliamentary rules adopted by
3-10 the conference, provided that those rules entitle each state
3-11 delegation, regardless of size, to one vote, and provided that each
3-12 vote by the Texas delegation be in accordance with the majority of
3-13 its members present and voting internally within the delegation;
3-14 and, be it further
3-15 RESOLVED, That the conference agenda extend, if supported by
3-16 participants, to the drafting of one or more potential amendments
3-17 to the United States Constitution reaffirming and strengthening
3-18 state sovereignty under the American system of federalism; and, be
3-19 it further
3-20 RESOLVED, That the conference agenda extend also to common
3-21 language to be used in state petitions to the United States
3-22 Congress for a constitutional amendment convention under Article V
3-23 of the United States Constitution, incorporating within that
3-24 language the text of any amendments drafted by the Conference of
3-25 the States for consideration by the constitutional amendment
3-26 convention; and, be it further
3-27 RESOLVED, That the Texas delegation report fully on the
4-1 proceedings of the conference to the Texas Legislature and the
4-2 governor, including any action plan, constitutional amendment
4-3 drafts, or constitutional amendment convention petitions receiving
4-4 the support of conference participants; and, be it further
4-5 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be forwarded to the
4-6 president of the United States, to the speaker of the house of
4-7 representatives and the president of the senate of the United
4-8 States Congress, to the members of the Texas delegation to the
4-9 congress, and to the presiding officers of the legislatures of the
4-10 other 49 states.