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1 1 HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO.
1 2 BY COMMITTEE ON STATE GOVERNMENT
1 3 (SUCCESSOR TO HSB 3)
1 4 A Concurrent Resolution calling for the convening of a
1 5 Conference of the States and providing for Iowa's
1 6 participation in the Conference.
1 7 WHEREAS, the Constitution of the United States
1 8 established a balanced system of federal, state, and
1 9 local governance and through the Tenth Amendment
1 10 reserved all nondelegated and nonprohibited powers to
1 11 the States or to the people; and
1 12 WHEREAS, over many years, the federal government
1 13 has dramatically expanded the scope of its power and
1 14 preempted state government authority and increasingly
1 15 has treated the States as administrative subdivisions
1 16 or as special interest groups, rather than coequal
1 17 partners; and
1 18 WHEREAS, the federal government has generated
1 19 massive budget deficits and continues to mandate
1 20 programs that state and local governments must
1 21 administer; and
1 22 WHEREAS, the number of federal unfunded mandates
1 23 has grown exponentially during the last 30 years and
1 24 has profoundly distorted state budgets, including
1 25 Iowa's, thereby limiting the ability of state leaders
1 26 in Iowa and across the country to provide appropriate
1 27 and needed services to their constituencies; and
1 28 WHEREAS, since 1990, the federal government has
1 29 enacted numerous major statutes imposing burdensome
1 30 and expensive regulations and requirements on states
2 1 and localities, which is nearly equal to all those
2 2 enacted in the prior two decades combined; and
2 3 WHEREAS, in recent years the States have been the
2 4 principal agents of government reform, including
2 5 updating their constitutions, modernizing and
2 6 restructuring governmental institutions, and, along
2 7 with local governments, have been the pioneers of
2 8 government innovation, thus responding to the needs of
2 9 their citizens; and
2 10 WHEREAS, Iowa has been a leader in governmental
2 11 reform by aggressively dealing with many challenges
2 12 confronting the State in recent years and by passing
2 13 measures to reform the state's budgetary practices,
2 14 welfare system, and governmental ethics laws, and to
2 15 continually improve governmental efficiency and
2 16 effectiveness; and
2 17 WHEREAS, persistent, state-led endeavors have
2 18 consistently failed to generate any substantial
2 19 reaction or remedy from the federal government; and
2 20 WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court has
2 21 repeatedly determined that the States must look to the
2 22 Congress and related political remedies for protection
2 23 against federal encroachments on the reserved powers
2 24 of the States; and
2 25 WHEREAS, the convening of a Conference of the
2 26 States will communicate broad bipartisan public
2 27 concern on the extent to which the American political
2 28 system has been changed and provide a formal forum for
2 29 the States to collectively propose constructive
2 30 remedies for a more balanced state-federal governance
3 1 partnership for the twenty-first century; NOW
3 2 THEREFORE,
3 3 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, THE
3 4 SENATE CONCURRING, That the Iowa General Assembly
3 5 adopt the following proposal calling for the convening
3 6 of a Conference of the States and providing for Iowa's
3 7 participation in the Conference:
3 8 1. A delegation of no more than seven voting
3 9 persons from the State of Iowa shall be appointed to
3 10 represent the State of Iowa at a Conference of the
3 11 States for the purposes described in section 2 of this
3 12 proposal and to be convened as provided in section 3
3 13 of this proposal. The composition of the Iowa
3 14 delegation shall be as follows:
3 15 a. The Governor, or, if the Governor does not wish
3 16 to be a member of the delegation, then a
3 17 constitutional officer selected by the Governor.
3 18 b. No more than six legislators, selected by the
3 19 majority leader of each house, so long as an equal
3 20 number of legislators from each house is selected and
3 21 at least one member from each house is selected from
3 22 each major political party represented in that house.
3 23 The majority leader of each house shall follow the
3 24 recommendations of the minority leader of that house
3 25 regarding the appointment of members of the minority
3 26 party from that house.
3 27 Each majority leader may designate two alternate
3 28 legislator delegates, one from each party, who shall
3 29 have voting privileges in the absence of the primary
3 30 delegates.
4 1 2. The delegates of the Conference of the States
4 2 will propose, debate, and vote on elements of an
4 3 action plan to restore checks and balances between the
4 4 States and the federal government. Measures agreed
4 5 upon will be formalized in an instrument called a
4 6 States' Petition and returned to the delegation's
4 7 state for consideration by the entire legislature.
4 8 3. The Conference of the States shall be convened
4 9 under the auspices of the Council of State
4 10 Governments, organized pursuant to its status as a
4 11 nonprofit organization under Internal Revenue Code }
4 12 501(c)(3), and in cooperation with the National
4 13 Governors' Association and the National Conference of
4 14 State Legislatures no later than 270 days after at
4 15 least 26 legislatures adopt a resolution of
4 16 participation in the Conference.
4 17 4. Prior to the official convening of the
4 18 Conference of the States, a steering committee for the
4 19 Conference of the States, composed of state-elected
4 20 officials, and established by the Council of State
4 21 Governments, in cooperation with the National
4 22 Governors' Association and the National Conference of
4 23 State Legislatures, will draft the following:
4 24 a. The governance structure and procedural and
4 25 operating rules for the Conference.
4 26 b. The process for receiving proposals concerning
4 27 the balance between the federal and state and local
4 28 governments.
4 29 c. The financial and administrative functions of
4 30 the Conference, including the Council of State
5 1 Governments as fiscal agent.
5 2 5. The bylaws for the Conference of the States
5 3 shall:
5 4 a. Conform to the provisions of this resolution.
5 5 b. Specify that each state delegation shall have
5 6 one vote at the Conference.
5 7 c. Specify that the Conference agenda be limited
5 8 to fundamental, structural, long-term reforms.
5 9 6. Upon the official convening of the Conference
5 10 of the States, the state delegations will vote upon
5 11 and approve the Conference governing structure,
5 12 procedural and operating rules, and bylaws.
5 13 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this
5 14 Resolution be sent to the Governor, the steering
5 15 committee for the Conference of the States, the
5 16 Council of State Governments, the National Governors'
5 17 Association, and the National Conference of State
5 18 Legislatures.
5 19 HCR 10
5 20 ec/pk/25
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