Revision: Feb. 1, 2011, midnight
HB 590 – AS INTRODUCED
2011 SESSION
05/04
HOUSE BILL 590
AN ACT declaring unconstitutional under the federal Constitution the offering of federal grants-in-aid relating to matters not included among the defined powers of the federal government and declaring unconstitutional under the New Hampshire constitution their acceptance in such circumstances, and establishing a committee to review state participation in federal grant-in-aid programs.
SPONSORS: Rep. Sorg, Graf 3; Rep. Mirski, Graf 10; Rep. D. McGuire, Merr 8; Rep. Itse, Rock 9
COMMITTEE: State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs
This bill declares federal grants-in-aid relating to matters not delegated to the government of the United States by Article I, Section 8 of the federal Constitution to be an unconstitutional exercise of federal authority; declares the rules that must be implemented as a condition for making such grants an invasion of the reserved powers of the states guaranteed by the Tenth Amendment of the federal Constitution, and declares their acceptance by the state of New Hampshire an unconstitutional surrender of its sovereignty contrary to Part First, Article 7 of the New Hampshire constitution. The bill also establishes a committee to review state participation in federal grant-in-aid programs.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
11-0712
05/04
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven
AN ACT declaring unconstitutional under the federal Constitution the offering of federal grants-in-aid relating to matters not included among the defined powers of the federal government and declaring unconstitutional under the New Hampshire constitution their acceptance in such circumstances, and establishing a committee to review state participation in federal grant-in-aid programs.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Purpose. The general court finds and declares that:
I. Under the federal system enshrined in the constitutions of the United States and the individual states, the ability of the national government to exercise authority over internal state and local concerns by imposing uniformity in domestic matters over the whole nation was curbed by delegating to the government of the United State powers that were few and defined, “exercised principally on external objects [such] as war, peace, negotiation and foreign commerce,” while those reserved to the governments of the several states were numerous and indefinite, “extend[ing] to all the objects which in the ordinary course of affairs concern the lives, liberties and properties of the people, and in the internal order, improvement and prosperity of the State,” The Federalist, No. 45 (Madison).
II. Said few and defined powers of the government of the United States were and are set forth in the 18 clauses of Section 8 of Article I of the federal Constitution, none of which authorizes the government of the United States to engage in or regulate matters of health, safety, and welfare within the boundaries of any state.
III. The reserved authority of the governments of the several states over such internal matters is reinforced by the Tenth Article of Amendment to the federal Constitution, to wit: “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.”
IV. The reserved authority of the state of New Hampshire over such internal matters is further reinforced by Article 7, Part First of the New Hampshire constitution, to wit: “The people of this state have the sole and exclusive right of governing themselves as a free, sovereign, and independent state; and do, and forever hereafter shall, exercise and enjoy every power, jurisdiction, and right, pertaining thereto, which is not, or may not hereafter be, by them expressly delegated to the United States of America in congress assembled.”
V. Notwithstanding Section 8 of Article I of and the Tenth Article of Amendment to the federal Constitution, the government of the United States has enacted all manner of laws and promulgated all manner of regulations establishing and governing programs functioning within the boundaries of the state of New Hampshire relating to matters of health, safety, and welfare, in which the government of the state of New Hampshire has acquiesced notwithstanding Article 7, Part First of the New Hampshire constitution.
VI. These unconstitutional encroachments of the government of the United States on the sovereignty and reserved powers of the state of New Hampshire have been accomplished in substantial part by inducing their acceptance by funding of all or a portion of the cost thereof.
VII. Such funding schemes amount to all intents and purposes of bribing the state of New Hampshire to surrender its sovereignty.
VIII. The government of the United States cannot and will never be able to deliver services more efficiently or economically than the several states functioning independently of both the government of the United States and one another in the competitive exercise of their reserved sovereign powers, independent of national legislators and civil servants remote from and unaccountable to them.
IX. Intervention by the government of the United States into the reserved powers of the several states tends towards the destruction of the independence of the states and the competition among them that alone moderates the natural tendency of government to grow, and of the liberties of their citizens.
2 Committee Established. There is established a committee to review state participation in federal grant-in-aid programs.
3 Membership and Compensation.
I. The members of the committee shall be as follows:
(a) Four members of the house of representatives, appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives.
(b) Two members of the senate, appointed by the president of the senate.
II. Members of the committee shall receive mileage at the legislative rate when attending to the duties of the committee.
4 Duties. The committee shall review the Revised Statutes Annotated to identify the statutory authority for each federal grant-in-aid program in which the state participates. The committee shall then assess the value to the state of each program on its merits, without reference to the availability of federal aid, and the feasibility of retaining each meritorious program in the absence of federal aid. For each program determined both to merit retention and to be feasible to retain without federal aid, the committee shall consider and make recommendations as to the most expeditious and practicable means of modifying it to make feasible the transition to support entirely from state, local, and/or private sources of funding. The committee shall solicit information and testimony from the legislative budget assistant’s office, the department of health and human services, the department of education, and other agencies and individuals with information and expertise relevant to the study.
5 Chairperson; Quorum. The members of the study committee shall elect a chairperson from among the members. The first meeting of the committee shall be called by the first-named house member. The first meeting of the committee shall be held within 45 days of the effective date of this section. Four members of the committee shall constitute a quorum.
6 Report. The committee shall report its findings and any recommendations for proposed legislation to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, the house clerk, the senate clerk, the governor, and the state library on or before November 1, 2011.
7 Effective Date. This act shall take effect upon its passage.