Bill Text: GA HB670 | 2011-2012 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: State Government; Constitutional Guardian Advisory Council; create

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 6-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2012-01-13 - House Second Readers [HB670 Detail]

Download: Georgia-2011-HB670-Introduced.html

---

12 LC 33 4296

House Bill 670

By: Representatives Clark of the 98th, Cooke of the 18th, Allison of the 8th, Ramsey of the 72nd, Collins of the 27th, and others

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

To amend Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state government, so as to create the Constitutional Guardian Advisory Council; to provide legislative findings; to provide for definitions; to provide for composition, officers, and meetings of the council; to provide for duties and powers; to provide for criteria for evaluation of a federal law; to provide for coordination with other states; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

SECTION 1.

Title 50 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to state government, is amended by adding a new chapter to read as follows:

"CHAPTER 38

50-38-1.

(a) The General Assembly finds the following fundamental, constitutional duties of the states, as evidenced by the framers of the Constitution:

(1) Be the 'sure guardians of the people's liberty' (James Madison);

(2) Prevent the federal government 'from overpassing their constitutional limits' (Alexander Hamilton);

(3) 'Erect barriers at the constitutional line as cannot be surmounted either by themselves or by the General Government' (Thomas Jefferson); and

(4) 'Jealously and closely watch the [federal] government, and be able to resist . . . every assumption of power, [better] than any other power on earth can do' (James Madison).

(b) The General Assembly further finds that, in the words of framer John Dickinson, 'it will be their own FAULTS, if the several states suffer the federal sovereignty to interfere in the things of their respective jurisdictions.'

50-38-2.

As used in this chapter, the term:

(1) 'Council' means the Constitutional Guardian Advisory Council created pursuant to Code Section 50-38-3.

(2) 'Federal governmental entity' means:

(A) The President of the United States;

(B) The United States Congress;

(C) A United States agency; or

(D) An employee or official appointed by the President of the United States.

(3) 'Federal law' means:

(A) An executive order of the President of the United States;

(B) A statute passed by the United States Congress;

(C) A regulation adopted by a United States agency; or

(D) A policy statement, guidance, or action by:

(i) A United States agency; or

(ii) An employee or official appointed by the President of the United States.

(4) 'United States agency' means a department, agency, authority, commission, council, board, office, bureau, or other administrative unit of the executive branch of the United States government.

50-38-3.

(a) There is created the Constitutional Guardian Advisory Council which shall consist of 12 members as follows:

(1) The Governor;

(2) The Lieutenant Governor;

(3) The President Pro Tempore of the Senate;

(4) The Speaker of the House of Representatives;

(5) The minority leader of the Senate;

(6) The minority leader of the House of Representatives;

(7) The Attorney General;

(8) The commissioner of natural resources;

(9) The Commissioner of Agriculture;

(10) The commissioner of economic development;

(11) The Commissioner of Insurance; and

(12) The commissioner of community health.

Members of the council may designate a person to serve in his or her place.

(b) The Governor or his or her designee shall serve as chairperson of the council. The Attorney General or his or her designee shall serve as vice chairperson of the council. The vice chairperson shall conduct council meetings in the absence of the chairperson. When a vacancy occurs in the membership of the council, such member shall be replaced in the same manner in which the original appointment was made.

(c) The council shall meet at least monthly or more frequently as needed; provided, however, that the council need not meet monthly if the chairperson, after polling the members, determines that a majority of the members do not wish to meet. The chairperson may call a meeting of the council. Prior to calling a meeting, however, the chairperson shall solicit items for the agenda from other members of the council. A majority of members of the council shall constitute a quorum.

(d) All departments and agencies of the state, shall, upon request of the council or the Governor, provide requested services, information, and technical support, notwithstanding any other law to the contrary.

(e) Members of the council shall receive no compensation for their services, except that:

(1) Executive branch members may be reimbursed for actual expenses incurred in the performance of their duties by the agency or department in which they serve as an official or employee; and

(2) Legislative members shall receive the same per diem expense amounts and transportation or mileage costs at the legal rate as are granted to members of interim legislative committees.

50-38-4.

(a) The Constitutional Guardian Advisory Council shall advise the Governor and the General Assembly on the following types of issues:

(1) The constitutionality of federal laws;

(2) When making recommendations to challenge the federal laws and regulations described in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of paragraph (3) of this subsection, the rationale for and effectiveness of those federal laws or regulations; and

(3) The advisability, feasibility, estimated cost, and likelihood of success of challenging:

(A) Federal court rulings that:

(i) Hinder the management of the state's prison system and place undue financial hardship on the state's taxpayers;

(ii) Impact a power or a right reserved to the people or the state by the Ninth or Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution; or

(iii) Expand or grant a power to the United States government beyond the limited, enumerated powers granted by the United States Constitution;

(B) Federal laws or regulations that reduce or negate water rights, or the rights of owners of private property, or the rights and interest of state and local governments, including sovereignty interests and the power to provide for the health, safety, and welfare of and promote the prosperity of their inhabitants;

(C) Conflicting federal regulations or policies in land management on federal land;

(D) Federal intervention that would damage the state's mining, timber, and agricultural industries;

(E) The authority of the Environmental Protection Agency and Congress to mandate local air quality standards and penalties; and

(F) Other issues that are relevant to this subsection.

(b) The council may request the Attorney General or his or her designee to provide recommendations and analyses on potential legal actions that would enhance the state's sovereignty or authority on issues affecting Georgia and the well-being of its citizens.

(c) The council may recommend to the Governor that he or she direct the Attorney General to initiate and prosecute any action that the council recommends.

(d) Subject to appropriations, the council may employ attorneys to assist in its duties.

(e) The council shall submit a report to each legislator on December 1 of each year by electronic mail that summarizes the council's activities.

50-38-5.

(a) In accordance with Code Section 50-38-6, the council shall evaluate a federal law submitted to the council by a councilmember.

(b) The council may request information regarding a federal law under evaluation from a United States Senator or Representative elected from this state.

(c) If the council finds that a federal law is not authorized by the United States Constitution or violates the principle of federalism as described in subsection (b) of Code Section 50-38-6, the council may:

(1) Request from a United States Senator or Representative elected from the state:

(A) Information about the federal law; or

(B) Assistance in communicating with a federal governmental entity regarding the federal law;

(2)(A) Give written notice of the evaluation required by subsection (a) of this Code section to the federal governmental entity responsible for adopting or administering the federal law; and

(B) Request a response to the evaluation from the federal governmental entity by a specific date; and

(3) Request a meeting, conducted in person or by electronic means, with the federal governmental entity and a councilmember, a representative from another state, or a United States Senator or Representative elected from this state to discuss the evaluation of federal law and any possible remedy.

(d) The council may recommend to the Governor that the Governor call a special session of the General Assembly to give the legislature an opportunity to respond to the council's evaluation of a federal law.

(e) The council may coordinate the evaluation of and response to federal law with another state as provided in Code Section 50-38-7.

50-38-6.

(a) The council shall evaluate whether a federal law submitted pursuant to subsection (a) of Code Section 50-38-5 is authorized by the:

(1) United States Constitution, Article I, Section 2, to provide for the decennial census;

(2) United States Constitution, Article I, Section 4, to override state laws regulating the times, places, and manner of congressional elections, other than the place of senatorial elections;

(3) United States Constitution, Article I, Section 7, to veto bills, orders, and resolutions by Congress;

(4) United States Constitution, Article I, Section 8, to:

(A) Lay and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises, to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States, but all duties, imposts, and excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

(B) Borrow money on the credit of the United States;

(C) Regulate commerce with foreign nations, among the several states, and with the Indian tribes;

(D) Establish a uniform rule of naturalization and uniform laws on the subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States;

(E) Coin money, regulate the value of coin money and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of weights and measures;

(F) Provide for the punishment of counterfeiting the securities and current coin of the United States;

(G) Establish post offices and post roads;

(H) Promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries;

(I) Constitute tribunals inferior to the United States Supreme Court;

(J) Define and punish piracies and felonies committed on the high seas and offenses against the law of nations;

(K) Declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

(L) Raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

(M) Provide and maintain a navy;

(N) Make rules for the government and regulation of the land and naval forces;

(O) Provide for calling forth the militia to execute the laws of the union, suppress insurrections, and repel invasions;

(P) Provide for organizing, arming, and disciplining the militia and for governing the part of the militia that may be employed in the service of the United States, reserving to the states respectively the appointment of the officers and the authority of training the militia according to the discipline prescribed by Congress;

(Q) Exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district, which may not exceed 10 miles square, as may, by cession of particular states and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of the government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the state in which the place shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other needful buildings; or

(R) Make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying into execution the powers listed in this section, and all other powers vested by the United States Constitution in the government of the United States, or in any department or officer of the United States;

(5) United States Constitution, Article I, Section 9, to authorize a federal officer to receive benefits from a foreign nation;

(6) United States Constitution, Article I, Section 10, to approve certain state actions;

(7) United States Constitution, Article II, Section 1, to set the time for choosing electors;

(8) United States Constitution, Article II, Section 2, to:

(A) Serve as Commander in Chief of the armed forces;

(B) Require the written opinions of executive officers;

(C) Grant reprieves and pardons;

(D) Make vacancy appointments;

(E) Make treaties, subject to the advice and consent of the United States Senate;

(F) Appoint foreign affairs officers subject to the advice and consent of the United States Senate;

(G) Appoint domestic affairs officers subject either to the advice and consent of the United States Senate or pursuant to law;

(H) Appoint judges subject to the advice and consent of the United States Senate; or

(I) Authorize the President to fill designated inferior offices without senatorial consent;

(9) United States Constitution, Article II, Section 3, to:

(A) Receive representatives of foreign powers;

(B) Execute the laws;

(C) Commission United States officers;

(D) Give Congress information on the state of the union;

(E) Make recommendations to Congress;

(F) Convene Congress on extraordinary occasions; or

(G) Adjourn Congress if it cannot agree on a time;

(10) United States Constitution, Article III, to:

(A) Create exceptions to the United States Supreme Court's appellate jurisdiction;

(B) Fix the jurisdiction of federal courts inferior to the Supreme Court; or

(C) Declare the punishment for treason;

(11) United States Constitution, Article IV, Section 1, to establish the rules by which the records and judgments of states are proved in other states;

(12) United States Constitution, Article IV, Section 3, to:

(A) Manage federal property;

(B) Dispose of federal property;

(C) Govern the federal territories; or

(D) Consent to admission of new states or the combination of existing states;

(13) United States Constitution, Article IV, Section 4, to defend states from invasion, insurrection, and non-republican forms of government;

(14) United States Constitution, Article V, to propose constitutional amendments;

(15) United States Constitution, Article VI, to prescribe the oath for federal officers;

(16) United States Constitution, Amendment XIII, to abolish slavery;

(17) United States Constitution, Amendment XIV, to guard people from certain state abuses;

(18) United States Constitution, Amendment XVI, to impose taxes on income from any source without having to apportion the total dollar amount of tax collected from each state according to each state's population in relation to the total national population;

(19) United States Constitution, Amendment XX, to revise the manner of presidential succession if there is no President-elect;

(20) United States Constitution, Amendment XV, XIX, XXIII, or XXIV, to extend and protect the right to vote; or

(21) United States Constitution, Amendment XXVII, to grant a pay raise to a sitting Congress.

(b) The council shall evaluate whether a federal law submitted pursuant to subsection (a) of Code Section 50-38-5 violates the principle of federalism by:

(1) Affecting the distribution of power and responsibility among the state and national governments;

(2) Limiting the policymaking discretion of the state;

(3) Impacting a power or a right reserved to the people or the state by the Ninth or Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution; and

(4) Impacting the sovereignty rights and interest of this state or a political subdivision thereof to provide for the health, safety, and welfare of and promote the prosperity of this state's or political subdivision's inhabitants.

(c) In the evaluation of a federal law, the council:

(1) Shall rely on:

(A) The text of the United States Constitution, as amended;

(B) The meaning of the text of the United States Constitution, as amended, at the time of its drafting and ratification; and

(C) A primary source document that is:

(i) Directly relevant to the drafting, adoption, ratification, or initial implementation of the United States Constitution, as amended; or

(ii) Created by a person directly involved in the drafting, adoption, ratification, or initial implementation of the United States Constitution, as amended;

(2) May rely on other relevant sources, including federal court decisions; and

(3) Is not bound by a holding by a federal court.

50-38-7.

(a) The council may correspond with the presiding officer of the legislative branch of another state or an entity of another state that has powers and duties that are similar to the council to discuss and coordinate the evaluation of and response to federal law as provided in Code Section 50-38-5.

(b) The council shall send a copy of this Act and the pages of the House and Senate Journal that pertain to this Act to:

(1) The governor of each state;

(2) The presiding officer, the majority leader, and the minority leader of each house, if applicable, of each state legislature;

(3) Each United States Senator or Representative elected from this state;

(4) The Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court;

(5) The President of the United States; and

(6) The presiding officer, the majority leader, and the minority leader of each house of the United States Congress."

SECTION 2.

All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.