Bill Text: AZ HM2001 | 2016 | Fifty-second Legislature 2nd Regular | Introduced

Arizona House Memorial 2001 (Prior Session Legislation)

AZ State Legislature page for HM2001

Introduced

Bill Title: Trade deals; urging Congress

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-05-05 - Introduced in House and read first time [HM2001 Detail]

Download: Arizona-2016-HM2001-Introduced.html

REFERENCE TITLE: trade deals; urging Congress

State of Arizona

House of Representatives

Fifty-second Legislature

Second Regular Session

2016

HM 2001

Introduced by

Representatives Andrade, Larkin, Mendez: Alston, Espinoza

A MEMORIAL

urging the United States Congress to oppose certain trade deals.

(TEXT OF BILL BEGINS ON NEXT PAGE)

To the Congress of the United States of America:

Your memorialist respectfully represents:

Whereas, United States trade deals for the past 25 years have been corporate-driven, incorporating rules that skew benefits to economic elites while requiring working families to bear the brunt of such policies; and

Whereas, the growing trade deficits, driven by the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), China's accession to the World Trade Organization and the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement, have displaced 700,000 American jobs, 3.2 million American jobs and 75,000 American jobs, respectively; and

Whereas, United States employment in manufacturing dropped by 5 million workers from 2000 to 2015; and

Whereas, jobs lost due to trade policies devastate families and entire communities and can permanently reduce lifetime earnings for hundreds of thousands of workers; and

Whereas, the offshoring of manufacturing and service jobs deprives local and state governments of sorely needed revenues, jeopardizing the livelihoods of millions of public servants as well as construction workers whose jobs depend on infrastructure building, repair and maintenance; and

Whereas, NAFTA and all but two of the United States trade deals that followed include special legal rights for foreign investors that allow foreign firms to bypass state and federal courts to challenge state and local laws, regulations and administrative and judicial decisions in international courts in a process known as investor-to-state dispute settlement (ISDS); and

Whereas, foreign investors already have used NAFTA's ISDS provisions to challenge decisions regarding local building permits, environmental regulations, state bans on toxic chemicals and decisions of state courts; and

Whereas, promoting economic growth with equity in Arizona requires an approach that reforms the entire trade negotiation process to ensure that the voices of workers, farmers, small businesses, families and communities are heard and their interests are addressed; and

Whereas, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) has been negotiated in secret, effectively shutting state and local governments out of the process and limiting the ability of the State of Arizona to influence the agreement's rules to ensure that the people of Arizona can participate in the benefits of trade; and

Whereas, repeating old mistakes in negotiating new trade agreements such as the TPP will result in missed opportunities to strengthen the economy of the United States, reduce income inequality and provide sustainable growth.

Wherefore your memorialist, the House of Representatives of the State of Arizona, prays:

1. That the Members of the United States Congress oppose the TPP and any other similar trade deal that fails to restructure the misguided and failed policies of the past.

2. That the Members of the United States Congress support a new trade deal such as the TPP only if the trade deal will accomplish the following:

(a) Protect and promote traditional state and local prerogatives and authority under the federal system by ensuring that states and localities will not be required to comply with certain commitments, including any restrictions on preferences for local, state or United States goods or services, without prior informed consent of the legislature or local lawmaking body.

(b) Ensure balanced trade and address the excessive, job-killing United States trade deficit.

(d) Ensure that countries cannot undercut United States-based producers with weaker labor and environmental laws and enforcement.

(e) Ensure that the United States will engage in robust enforcement of trade rules, including labor and environmental rules.

(f) Include strong rule of origin to promote economic growth and job creation in the United States.

(g) Promote high standards of protection for workplaces, products and natural resources.

3. That the Secretary of State of the State of Arizona transmit copies of this Memorial to the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and each Member of Congress from the State of Arizona.