By: Hughes S.C.R. No. 47
(In the Senate - Filed March 20, 2017; April 4, 2017, read
first time and referred to Committee on State Affairs; May 8, 2017,
reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 1;
May 8, 2017, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, Overreaching regulatory policies mandated by the
federal government encroach upon liberties guaranteed to United
States citizens by the First, Second, Fourth, and Fifth Amendments
enumerated in the Bill of Rights; and
WHEREAS, In January 2017, the United States House of
Representatives passed the Regulations From the Executive in Need
of Scrutiny (REINS) Act, which requires that congressional approval
be obtained prior to the execution of new major regulations; even if
enacted, however, that law is vulnerable to repeal or waiver by a
future Congress or president; and
WHEREAS, States today have little recourse when the
government in Washington, D.C., oversteps its authority; the only
way to contest a federal regulation is to bring a constitutional
challenge in federal court or to seek an amendment to the
constitution; and
WHEREAS, Passage of a regulation freedom amendment would help
restore constitutional balance by providing that whenever
one-fourth of the members of either the United States House of
Representatives or the United States Senate transmit to the
president of the United States a written declaration of opposition
to a proposed federal regulation, the regulation would require a
majority vote of approval from both chambers for adoption; and
WHEREAS, A regulation freedom amendment would reestablish
the separation of powers in the regulatory process and allow the
will of the people to be voiced through their democratically
elected representatives; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That the 85th Legislature of the State of Texas
hereby respectfully urge the Congress of the United States to
propose and submit to the states for ratification a regulation
freedom amendment to the United States Constitution; 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 president of the Senate and the speaker of the House of
Representatives of the United States Congress, and to all the
members of the Texas delegation to Congress with the request that
this resolution be entered in the Congressional Record as a
memorial to the Congress of the United States of America.
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