Senate Bill 2426

AN ACT TO CREATE THE MISSISSIPPI BALANCE OF POWERS ACT; TO CREATE A JOINT LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE ON FEDERALISM; TO PROVIDE THAT THE COMMITTEE MAY DETERMINE IF A FEDERAL ACTION IS AN UNCONSTITUTIONAL FEDERAL ACTION; TO PROVIDE THAT THE LEGISLATURE MAY VOTE WHETHER A STATE AGENCY OR POLITICAL SUBDIVISION SHALL PLAN, ASSIGN, IMPLEMENT OR COOPERATE WITH THE UNCONSTITUTIONAL FEDERAL ACTION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:

SECTION 1. (1) This act shall be known as the Balance of Powers Act.

(2) The Legislature finds that:

(a) The people of the several states comprising the United States of America created the federal government to be their agent for certain enumerated purposes and nothing more.

(b) The Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution defines the total scope of federal power as including only those powers specifically delegated by the people to the federal government. Those powers not delegated to the federal government are reserved to the states or to the people themselves.

(c) Each power delegated to the federal government by the United States Constitution encompasses only that power as it was understood at the time it was delegated, subject only to an expansion or limitation of that power by a subsequent amendment to the constitution.

(d) The United States Constitution authorizes the United States Congress to exercise only those powers enumerated in Section 8, Article I, of the Constitution, as well as certain other powers delegated to Congress by subsequent amendments to the Constitution.

(e) The power delegated to the United States Congress to regulate commerce among the several states under Section 8, Article I, of the United States Constitution was not intended by its drafters or understood by those who ratified it as an authorization for the federal government to assume vast powers not directly related to interstate commerce, many of which infringe on the sovereignty of the states and the liberties of the people. Under color of the Commerce Clause, the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of the federal government have adopted and implemented countless measures not authorized by the language or original intent of the clause, many of which usurp the duties and responsibilities reserved to the states by the Tenth Amendment.

(f) The power delegated to the United States Congress to make all necessary and proper laws under Section 8, Article I, of the United States Constitution was not intended by its drafters or understood by those who ratified it to be a delegation of unlimited power to the federal government to do anything it considers necessary and proper. Instead, the Necessary and Proper Clause was intended and understood to authorize Congress to only enact laws actually necessary and proper to execute a power specifically vested in the federal government by the Constitution, without which the vested power would be impossible to exercise.

(g) The power delegated to the United States Congress to provide for the general welfare of the United States under Section 8, Article I, of the United States Constitution was not intended by its drafters or understood by those who ratified it to authorize Congress to enact any legislation that it considers good or desirable. Instead, the General Welfare Clause was intended and understood to ensure that Congress, when exercising an enumerated power, does so in a manner that serves all citizens well and equally.

(h) In addition to the limitations imposed on the power of the federal government by the United States Constitution as originally ratified, the powers delegated to the federal government were further restricted at the insistence of the people through the ratification of the Bill of Rights. As such, this state specifically rejects any federal claim that any provision of the Bill of Rights authorizes new or expanded authority that may be exercised by the federal government.

(i) No authority has ever been delegated to the federal government to preempt state legislation, interfere with internal state affairs reserved to the states, regulate state courts in matters of state substantive law or procedure, or otherwise act in a manner that interferes with the balance of powers between the states and the federal government established by the United States Constitution.

(j) The constitutional limitation on the scope of federal power and the reservation of other powers to the states or to the people are matters of contract between this state and its people, and the United States, as of the date this state was admitted to the United States of America.

(k) The federal government has acted in a manner inconsistent with the language, intent, and spirit of the United States Constitution in direct violation of the Constitution and the contract between this state and its people, and the United States. This state rejects the unauthorized and excessive abuse of power by the federal government that infringes on the rights of this state and its people and that unconstitutionally undermines, diminishes, and disregards the balance of powers between the states and the federal government established by the Constitution.

(3) The anti-commandeering doctrine, announced by the United States Supreme Court in New York v. United States and Printz V. United States, prohibits the federal government from commandeering state governments.

(4) This state and its people retain their sovereign power to regulate the affairs of this state, subject only to the limitations prescribed by the United States Constitution.

SECTION 2. In this act:

(a) "Committee" means the Joint Legislative Committee on Federalism.

(b) "Federal action" includes:

(i) A federal law;

(ii) A federal rule, policy or standard; and

(iii) An Executive Order of the President of the United States.

(c) "Unconstitutional federal action" means a federal action enacted, adopted or implemented without authority specifically delegated to the federal government by the people through the United States Constitution.

SECTION 3. (1) The Joint Legislative Committee on Federalism is established as a permanent joint committee of the Legislature.

(2) The committee consists of the following fourteen (14) members:

(a) The Speaker of the House of Representatives;

(b) The Lieutenant Governor;

(d) Six (6) members of the Senate appointed by the Lieutenant Governor.

(3) Not more than four (4) House members of the committee, including the Speaker of the House, and four (4) Senate members of the committee, including the Lieutenant Governor, may be members of the same political party.

(4) Members of the committee serve two—year terms beginning with the convening of each regular legislative session.

(5) If a vacancy occurs on the committee, the appropriate appointing officer shall appoint a member of the House or Senate, as appropriate, to serve for the remainder of the unexpired term.

(6) The Speaker of the House and the Lieutenant Governor are joint chairs of the committee.

(7) The committee shall meet at the call of either joint chair.

(8) A majority of the members of the committee constitute a quorum.

SECTION 4. (1) The committee may review any federal action to determine whether the action is an unconstitutional federal action.

(2) Not later than the one hundred eightieth day after the date the committee holds its first public hearing to review a specific federal action, the committee shall vote to determine whether the action is an unconstitutional federal action.

(3) The committee may determine that a federal action is an unconstitutional federal action only by majority vote of the total membership of the committee.

SECTION 5. (1) If the committee determines that a federal action is an unconstitutional federal action, each house of the Legislature shall, during the next regular legislative session, vote on whether a state agency or political subdivision shall plan, assist, implement or cooperate with the unconstitutional federal action. A majority vote of the members of each house of the Legislature is required to adopt the committee's recommendations.

(2) The Legislature may not vote whether a state agency or political subdivision shall plan, assist, implement or cooperate with the unconstitutional federal action unless the committee has determined that the action is an unconstitutional federal action.

(3) Not later than the thirtieth day following the effective date of this act, the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Lieutenant Governor shall appoint the initial members of the Joint Legislative Committee on Federalism.

SECTION 6. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2015.