10^th AMENDMENT TASK FORCE

1) Official Launch of the 10^th Amendment Task Force.  The Republican Study Committee’s 10^th Amendment Task Force will officially launch on Thursday, May 6, at 1:00 p.m. at a press event held at the House Triangle, located on the East front of the U.S. Capitol.  This event is open to the public.  

2) Spotlight:  “Restore the Tenth.”  The Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) and the State Policy Network (SPN) have launched a visit-worthy new website dedicated to the Tenth Amendment.  

3) “These guys still believe this stuff?”  With some hard-to-hide skepticism (especially noted in the comments), left-leaning blog Talking Points Memo catches wind of the 10^th Amendment Task Force.

4) Arizona’s immigration laboratory.  Among the deluge of commentary on Arizona’s new immigration law, George Will points to one overlooked aspect of the debate.  Whether you approve or disapprove of the new law, Arizona’s experience will provide the nation with “information about whether judicious enforcement discourages illegality.”  Bold policy experimentation is just one of the many virtues of decentralized government.

5) Immigration, Greenhouse’s Gas, and Gender Benders. Jonah Goldberg, one of the most entertaining conservative commentators writing today, makes the case for greater state policy experimentation.  Also, almost nine years ago to the day, Goldberg authored one of the most enjoyable and insightful short pieces written on the virtues of federalism (No, this is not the wrong link.  Yes, it deals with transgender issues).

6) Commerce Clause out of control.  One of the largest impediments to limited  government today is an overly expansive interpretation of the Commerce Clause.  Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn, a co-founding Member of the 10^th Task Force, has developed two draft pieces of legislation that would limit Congress’s power under the Commerce Clause.  The draft bills are included below for consideration and review. 

7) One Amendment to save them all.  Roman Buhler, a long-standing advocate for federalism, recently penned a letter-to-the-editor in the Wall Street Journal arguing for an amendment to Article V that would give states the power to call a Constitutional Convention limited to just one amendment.

8) Speeches and Forums.  Former Speaker of the Florida State House and Member of Congress, Tom Feeney, recently addressed a gathering of state legislative leaders at The Heritage Foundation entitled “Federalism Under Attack.”  Meanwhile, the Sutherland Institute in Utah hosted a forum entitled “Why Balanced Federalism is Good for Utah.”

9) Candidates are catching on.   In the attached document, Tim Bridgewater, a candidate for U.S. Senate, points to passage of the 17^th Amendment as one of the leading causes of massive power consolidation in Washington D.C. , and offers eight suggestions to restore the balance of power between the various levels of our federal system.

10)  Flashback:  Mike Leavitt, former Governor, Secretary of HHS and EPA Administrator, wrote an article in the Fall 2009 “Ripon Forum” describing his active role with a movement in the early 1990’s to rejuvenate federalism.  The article offers a good reference point for today’s federalism debate and serves as a reminder that the discussion over federalism has been ongoing since the founding of this nation.