May 26, 2010, Introduced by Senators McMANUS and CROPSEY and referred to the Committee on Judiciary.
A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the state
constitution of 1963, by adding section 15a to article IV, to
create a joint federalism commission to examine the
constitutionality of certain actions by the federal government.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
state of Michigan, That the following amendment to the state
constitution of 1963, to create a joint federalism commission to
examine the constitutionality of certain actions by the federal
government, is proposed, agreed to, and submitted to the people of
the state:
ARTICLE IV
Sec. 15a. (1) The joint federalism commission is created
within the legislative council.
(2) The commission shall consist of the following members:
(a) Five senators appointed by the senate majority leader in a
manner that proportionally reflects the caucus affiliations of the
chamber and includes at least two members from the senate judiciary
committee. The senate majority leader, the senate minority leader,
the majority and minority floor leaders of the senate, and the
speaker pro tempore of the senate shall not be appointed to the
commission.
(b) Five representatives appointed by the speaker of the house
of representatives in a manner that proportionally reflects the
caucus affiliations of the chamber and includes at least two
members from the house judiciary committee. The speaker of the
house of representatives, the minority leader of the house of
representatives, the majority and minority floor leaders of the
house of representatives, and the speaker pro tempore of the house
of representatives shall not be appointed to the commission.
(c) The governor and the attorney general shall each appoint
one nonvoting member who shall attend commission meetings and
provide insight and opinions from those offices.
(3) The members first appointed to the commission shall be
appointed within 30 days after the effective date of this section.
(4) Members of the commission shall serve for a period of two
years or the remainder of their term of office, whichever is less.
A member of the commission shall discharge the duties of his or her
position in a nonpartisan manner, with good faith, and with that
degree of diligence, care, and skill that an ordinarily prudent
person would exercise under similar circumstances in a like
position.
(5) If a vacancy occurs on the commission, the member shall be
replaced in the same manner as the original appointment.
(6) The first meeting of the commission shall be called by the
senate majority leader not later than 60 days after the effective
date of this section. At the first meeting, the commission shall
elect from among its members co-chairpersons from each house who
shall serve as commission chairperson on an alternating monthly
basis, as well as other officers as it considers necessary or
appropriate. After the first meeting, the commission shall meet for
at least 10 regular monthly meetings per year. The acting
chairperson may call one additional meeting per month. A
replacement meeting may be called if a quorum is not present at a
meeting.
(7) Five or more members of the commission constitute a quorum
for the transaction of business at a meeting of the commission. A
majority of the members present are required for official action of
the commission when a quorum is present. A member who misses more
than two regular monthly meetings in a year shall be replaced
within thirty days.
(8) Members of the commission shall serve without
compensation. However, members of the commission may be reimbursed
for reasonable and necessary expenses incurred in the performance
of their official duties as members of the commission subject to
available appropriations.
(9) The commission shall monitor actions or proposed actions
of the federal government toward this state that require or would
require the state or a state officer to enact or enforce a
provision of federal law that violates the state constitution of
1963 or that lies outside the federal government's enumerated
powers and intrudes on the sovereignty reserved to the states by
the Ninth and Tenth Amendments of the United States constitution,
or where the state can be denied ordinarily available federal
funding for not adopting certain laws or regulations. The
commission shall also monitor memoranda of agreement, memoranda of
understanding, compacts, or other similar binding agreements with a
nongovernmental organization or unit of government located outside
this state, including, but not limited to, the federal government
or its agents.
(10) The commission shall study and consider the
constitutionality of specific acts, orders, laws, statutes,
regulations, memoranda of agreement, memoranda of understanding,
rules, and other actions by the federal government including the
legislative, executive, and judicial branches as determined by a
vote of the commission. A determination on the constitutionality of
such actions may be voted upon at any subsequent commission meeting
during the legislative session. If a member of the house of
representatives or senate who is not a member of the commission
obtains the signatures from one half of the members from the
member's house of the legislature on a petition stating that an
identified action or pending action by the federal government is
unconstitutional, the commission shall study the issue and vote
upon its constitutionality within a 90-day period. A member of the
house of representatives or senate shall only petition the
commission in such a manner once per legislative session.
(11) If at any time the commission finds an action by the
federal government that violates or is in conflict with the United
States constitution or usurps the powers reserved to the states,
the majority voting members of the commission shall introduce a
bill or bills to declare the federal action null and void and
unenforceable as it applies to this state. The bill or bills shall
bypass all legislative committee hearings and be sent directly to
the floor calendar for consideration by the originating house by a
record roll call vote within 10 session days or at least five days
before the end of session if fewer than 10 session days remain.
Upon passage of the bill by the originating house, the bill shall
be sent to the opposite house and directly to the floor calendar
for a record roll call vote by the opposite house within 10 session
days or at least five days before the end of session if fewer than
10 session days remain. The bill or bills may require action on the
part of the attorney general, who, if requested by either house of
the legislature, shall intervene and appear for the people of this
state in the supreme court or any other court or tribunal.
(12) The commission shall monitor and examine all memoranda of
understanding, memoranda of agreement, compacts, or similar binding
agreements between this state and the federal government, other
units of government located outside this state, or nongovernmental
organizations. Proposed language for all such agreements must be
forwarded to the commission and formally received. The commission
may reject or approve that language within 90 days. Those
agreements shall not be legally entered into or hold the force of
law until they have been formally approved by the commission or 90
days have passed without being formally rejected by the commission.
(13) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent any
legislator from introducing legislation on any issue that goes
through the normal legislative process.
Resolved further, That the foregoing amendment shall be
submitted to the people of the state at the next general election
in the manner provided by law.