Spotlight on Federalism in Denver

As one of the ALEC guiding principles, federalism will take center stage at the ALEC Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado, July 19-21, 2017, and here are some of the highlights.

The Federalism and International Relations Subcommittees will meet on Wednesday, July 19 from 9:00am-11:30am and the Task Force on Friday, July 21 from 2:30 PM – 5:30 PM. Federalism-focused segments include:

• A presentation and video describing the findings of a recently-released Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty (WILL) policy brief Wisconsin’s No Growth Zone: The Impact of the Clean Air Act on Sheboygan County – access the policy brief here.
• A video and discussion offering practical measures to restore the appropriate balance of power between federal and state governments beginning with encouraging the resurrection of President Reagan’s Executive Order 12612 “to restore the division of governmental responsibilities between the national government and the States that was intended by the framers of the Constitution.” Convening an interstate conference on federalism could be a pragmatic first step in restoring optimal state sovereignty, and an article outlining some of the ideas underpinning this presentation can be found here,
• A legislator leader of the movement to transfer select federal lands to state control will give us an update on the issue.
• A video, discussion and consideration of a repeal of the 17^th Amendment.
• A presentation recognizing intellectual property rights are enshrined in the U.S. Constitution that explores the explosion of malware and viruses on computers whose users visit websites that sell counterfeited and pirated content—offering yet another reason to stay away from illicit websites!

In addition to the meetings, Thursday, July 20 begins with a breakfast session featuring former U.S. Senator from South Carolina Jim DeMint, enlisting the support of state leaders to save the American republic. Convinced the political class in Washington will not and, in fact, can not restrain our nation’s out-of-control federal government, DeMint will present the constitutional solution our founders gave to the states—Article V.

Following breakfast is a workshop Why the Nation Needs YOU to Drain the Swamp positing the state legislatures’ power under Article V is our nation’s only hope for a real and lasting constitutional renaissance. ALEC model policy underpinning the ideas discussed can be found here.

At the breakfast session on Friday, July 21 Colorado Congressman Ken Buck, author of Drain the Swamp: How Washington Corruption Is Worse than You Think will discuss how an Article V amendments convention can advance a Balanced Budget Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. ALEC long ago adopted model policy supporting this initiative, and an updated version can be found here. The dedication to state sovereignty of ALEC members is unquestioned and ALEC will continue to work tirelessly to promote those principles at the national conferences and throughout the year.