82R4149 KYF-D
By: Kolkhorst H.J.R. No. 69
A JOINT RESOLUTION
applying to the Congress of the United States to call a convention
to propose an amendment to the United States Constitution providing
that the power to regulate health and education is reserved to the
states.
WHEREAS, The federal government is engaged in unsustainable
deficit spending to fund federally mandated but state-run programs
such as Medicaid, and the continued growth in necessary spending on
health and education strains the state budget; and
WHEREAS, The Tenth Amendment to the United States
Constitution reserves all powers not delegated to the federal
government to the states and the people but has proven insufficient
to protect the rights of the several states from encroachment; and
WHEREAS, Amendment of the United States Constitution to
clarify and secure certain powers delegated to the states as
provided by the Tenth Amendment, including the states' power to
regulate health and education, is necessary to better ensure a more
perfect union; and
WHEREAS, The United States Constitution contains no express
restriction on the power of the federal government to regulate the
provision of health and education; and
WHEREAS, Article V of the United States Constitution provides
that on application of the legislatures of two-thirds of the
several states Congress shall call a convention for proposing
amendments to the constitution; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 82nd Texas Legislature apply to Congress
to call a convention under Article V of the United States
Constitution for the exclusive purpose of proposing an amendment to
the constitution providing that the power to regulate health and
education, including the power to protect an individual's health
and right to an education, is reserved exclusively to the states;
and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the amendment proposed by the convention
should further provide that the amendment supersedes both the
Necessary and Proper Clause and the Commerce Clause of Section 8,
Article I, as applied to federal legislation regulating health and
education and that the amendment does not limit any other power
delegated to the states; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the amendment proposed by the convention
should further provide that, if the federal government collects
taxes for the purpose of health or education, the federal
government must distribute the revenue from those taxes as aid to
the several states as block grants permitting the states
discretionary use of the funds for health and education; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, That the amendment proposed by the convention
should prohibit the federal government from enacting laws that
mandate how states must spend health and education funding or that
tax individual behaviors, including inactivity, for the purpose of
regulating health; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That, unless rescinded by a succeeding
legislature, this application by the 82nd Texas Legislature
constitutes a continuing application in accordance with Article V
of the United States Constitution until at least two-thirds of the
legislatures of the several states have applied to Congress to call
a convention to propose an amendment to the constitution to provide
that the power to regulate health and education is reserved to the
states, but if Congress proposes a constitutional amendment
identical in subject matter to that contained in this resolution,
this application is no longer of any force; and, be it further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the president of the United States, to
the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the
Senate of the Congress of the United States, and to all members of
the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that this
resolution be officially entered in the Congressional Record as an
application to Congress for a convention to propose an amendment to
the United States Constitution to provide that the power to
regulate health and education is reserved to the states; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, That the Texas secretary of state forward official
copies of this resolution to the secretaries of state and to the
presiding officers of the legislatures of the several states with
the request that they join this state in applying to Congress for a
convention to propose an amendment to the United States
Constitution to provide that the power to regulate health and
education is reserved to the states.