HCR 3 – AS INTRODUCED
2011 SESSION
05/03
HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 3
A RESOLUTION urging increased consideration and preservation of local authority in international trade and investment agreements.
SPONSORS: Rep. Weed, Ches 3; Rep. Mirski, Graf 10
COMMITTEE: State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs
This house concurrent resolution urges:
I. The federal government to ensure that international agreements preserve the traditional powers of state and local governments relative to investment, procurement, and trade in services.
II. The federal government to provide state and local officials with requested documentation of international agreements that restrict or otherwise affect state and local authority.
11-0310
05/03
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Eleven
A RESOLUTION urging increased consideration and preservation of local authority in international trade and investment agreements.
Whereas, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is negotiating to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) among 34 nations of the Western Hemisphere, create bilateral agreements such as the United States-Chile agreement, expand the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), interpret the investment chapter of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and potentially add an investment agreement under the World Trade Organization (WTO); and
Whereas, these international negotiations include provisions on investment, procurement, and trade in services, all of which serve to shift power from state and local governments; and
Whereas, investment agreements increase foreign investor rights allowing challenges to core functions of state and local government, such as zoning, protection of ground water and other natural resources, corporate ownership of land and casinos, law enforcement by courts, and sovereign immunity; and
Whereas, procurement agreements are based on the standard that government purchasing decisions should be limited to price, without considering state and local purchasing preferences including recycled content, small business, minority and women-owned business, vendors with a competent tract record, and avoidance of goods made with forced child labor; and
Whereas, agreements on trade in services set a standard that regulations must not be more burdensome to trade than necessary, which affects services that are traditionally provided or regulated by cities and states, including alcoholic beverages, construction, health facilities, insurance, sewerage, solid waste, and potentially, water and energy; and
Whereas, serious concerns about these agreements have been raised by the National League of Cities, the National Conference of State Legislatures, the National Association of Counties, and the National Association of Attorneys General; now, therefore, be it
Resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
That the New Hampshire general court hereby urges:
I. Congress and the USTR to preserve the traditional powers of state and local governments as they negotiate and act upon international agreements by:
(a) Carving out state and local governments from the scope of investment, services, and procurement agreements;
(b) Where such carve out has not been achieved, assuring that such international rules do not deviate from traditional deference to state and local regulatory authority; and
(c) Eliminating state and local regulation from GATS rules on Domestic Regulation and limiting application of those rules to specific commitments made by countries; and
II. The USTR to provide state and local officials access to negotiating documents necessary for such officials and their constituents to assess the potential impacts of such negotiations on their legitimate authority; and
That copies of this resolution, signed by the speaker of the house of representatives and the president of the senate, be forwarded by the house clerk to the United States Trade Representative and to each member of the New Hampshire congressional delegation.