PRINTER'S NO. 315

THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF PENNSYLVANIA


HOUSE RESOLUTION

No. 31 Session of 1995


        INTRODUCED BY ARGALL, JADLOWIEC, BROWN, CLARK, BATTISTO, STEIL,
           FARMER, WOGAN, LYNCH, FICHTER, STERN, CONTI, ALLEN, STISH,
           CHADWICK, BUNT, NYCE, GRUPPO, ZUG, CARONE, PHILLIPS, McCALL,
           ROBERTS, FAIRCHILD, SCHULER, KING, DRUCE, THOMAS,
           M. N. WRIGHT, HANNA, J. TAYLOR, GODSHALL, HENNESSEY, KENNEY,
           STAIRS, E. Z. TAYLOR, TRUE, GEIST, WAUGH AND HUTCHINSON,
           JANUARY 26, 1995

        REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON INTERGOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS,
           JANUARY 26, 1995

                            A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION

     1  Urging members of the Pennsylvania Congressional delegation to
     2     meet periodically with the General Assembly regarding
     3     unfunded Federal mandates.

     4     WHEREAS, The Federal legislative interests of the
     5  Commonwealth are constantly evolving; and
     6     WHEREAS, The communication of those legislative interests to
     7  Federal legislators will best be achieved through interactive
     8  meetings between the General Assembly and each member of
     9  Congress from Pennsylvania; and
    10     WHEREAS, The number of unfunded Federal mandates imposed upon
    11  the states by Congress has alarmingly increased in recent years;
    12  and
    13     WHEREAS, This continuing imposition places the Commonwealth
    14  in the precarious position of either attempting to fund the
    15  Federal requirements with diminishing amounts of available


     1  revenue or jeopardizing eligibility for certain Federal funds;
     2  and
     3     WHEREAS, The legal history of the Constitution of the United
     4  States has demonstrated that, prior to the ratification of the
     5  Constitution of the United States, each state possessed the
     6  exclusive authority and right to regulate intrastate commerce as
     7  an inseparable trait of sovereignty, and such authority is
     8  retained to the extent that it has not been specifically
     9  surrendered to the Federal Government by instrument, and that
    10  this authority is guaranteed to the states by the Tenth
    11  Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and that any
    12  affirmative grant of power to the Federal Government is not
    13  exclusive unless inconsistent with the particular grant; and
    14     WHEREAS, States and Congress should engage in earnest
    15  discussions regarding the difficult posture in which the states
    16  have been cast and the urgent necessity of the states to receive
    17  monetary assistance for these mandates or relief from the
    18  enforcement of these unfunded decrees; and
    19     WHEREAS, The General Assembly requests that all members of
    20  Congress from Pennsylvania meet with the Intergovernmental
    21  Affairs Committee of the Senate of Pennsylvania and the
    22  Intergovernmental Affairs Committee of the Pennsylvania House of
    23  Representatives and all members of the General Assembly
    24  concerning this critical problem so that our Federal
    25  representatives may be completely cognizant of the effect the
    26  actions of the Federal Government have at the State legislative
    27  level and may be more sensitive to the difficulties that
    28  unfunded Federal mandates create; therefore be it
    29     RESOLVED (the Senate concurring), That the General Assembly
    30  urge each member of Congress from Pennsylvania to meet with
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     1  representatives of the Senate and the House of Representatives
     2  at least two times per year convened for the purpose of
     3  discussing the problems related to unfunded Federal mandates in
     4  order to establish an ongoing and open dialogue between these
     5  parties; and be it further
     6     RESOLVED, That the General Assembly remind each member of
     7  Congress from Pennsylvania of the Commonwealth's retention of
     8  its sovereign authority, under the Tenth Amendment to the
     9  Constitution of the United States, to enact and enforce any law,
    10  rule or regulation not specifically excluded by the Constitution
    11  of the United States, and that each member of Congress from
    12  Pennsylvania shall respect the Commonwealth's sovereign
    13  authority under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the
    14  United States when considering, deliberating and enacting any
    15  proposed piece of legislation that may affect this Commonwealth;
    16  and be it further
    17     RESOLVED, That the chairman and minority chairman of the
    18  Intergovernmental Affairs Committee of the Senate and the
    19  President pro tempore of the Senate and the chairman and
    20  minority chairman of the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee of
    21  the House of Representatives and the Speaker of the House of
    22  Representatives discuss this resolution with the bipartisan
    23  leadership of the Pennsylvania delegation to Congress, in order
    24  to make the necessary arrangements for such a session to be held
    25  in Harrisburg during the 1995 session with the possibility of
    26  additional sessions as determined necessary by the chairman and
    27  minority chairman of the Intergovernmental Affairs Committee of
    28  the Senate of Pennsylvania and the Intergovernmental Affairs
    29  Committee of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives; and be
    30  it further
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     1     RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted to
     2  each member of Congress from Pennsylvania to advise each member
     3  of Congress from Pennsylvania of this invitation and of its
     4  hopeful anticipation of their acceptance.


















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