By Cindy Sharretts
Members of the Maryland legislature are fighting to preserve and assert the state’s right to refuse federal mandates which are outside the constitutional bounds of federal government. Citizens of numerous states have asked their legislatures to reaffirm the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as they are seeing Washington lawmakers expand government intrusion, especially understood in the current debate of national health care bills. State legislatures are more accessible and accountable to the people than Congress, so those who framed the Constitution included safeguards to prevent the federal government’s regulation of day-to-day affairs.
In Annapolis on Monday, March 8th, testimony was heard on HJ2, a House Joint Resolution sponsored by Delegate Michael Smigiel (Caroline, Cecil, Kent & Queen Anne’s Counties), Delegate Don Dwyer and Delegate Nicholaus Kipke (both of Anne Arundel County). By affirming Maryland’s sovereignty as described in the Constitution’s Tenth Amendment, the resolution demands “. . . that the federal government halt and reverse its practice of assuming and imposing mandates on the states for purposes not enumerated under the Constitution . . . . “ The resolution also calls for a committee to communicate with other state legislatures, working with them to list federal abuses and to seek repeal of those unlawful mandates which have been imposed.
In addition to phone calls, visits, letters and emails to members of the Maryland General Assembly, committee hearings provide formal opportunities for citizens to comment on legislation. Cindy Sharretts, a Harford County businesswoman, was one of those who testified on HJ2. A copy of her testimony can be seen below:
House Joint Resolution 2: Maryland Sovereignty Under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States
Madam Chairwoman and Delegates of the House Rules and Executive Nominations Committee:
The Maryland Constitution states the following:
We, The People of the State of Maryland, grateful to Almighty God for our civil and religious liberty, and taking into our serious consideration the best means of establishing a good Constitution in this State for the sure foundation and more permanent security thereof, declare:
Declaration of Rights (DR), Article 2. The Constitution of the United States, and the Laws made, or which shall be made, in pursuance thereof, and all Treaties made, or which shall be made, under the authority of the United States, are, and shall be the Supreme Law of the State; and the Judges of this State, and all the People of this State, are, and shall be bound thereby; anything in the Constitution or Law of this State to the contrary notwithstanding.
DR, Article 3. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution thereof, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people thereof.
DR, Article 4. That the People of this State have the sole and exclusive right of regulating the internal government and police thereof, as a free, sovereign, and independent State.
DR, Article 6. That all persons invested with the Legislative or Executive powers of Government are the Trustees of the Public, and, as such, accountable for their conduct . . . .
DR, Article 9. That no power of suspending Laws or the execution of Laws, unless by, or derived from the Legislature, ought to be exercised, or allowed.
DR, Article 13. That every man hath a right to petition the Legislature for the redress of grievances in a peaceable and orderly manner.
DR, Article 44. That the provisions of the Constitution of the United States, and of this State, apply, as well in time of war, as in time of peace; and any departure there from, or violation thereof, under the plea of necessity, or any other plea, is subversive of good Government, and tends to anarchy and despotism.
DR, Article 45. This enumeration of Rights shall not be construed to impair or deny others retained by the People.
Article II (Executive Department), Section 9. He [the Governor] shall take care that the Laws are faithfully executed.
AND
The Constitution of the United States states the following:
Article I, Section 8 enumerates the specific powers and responsibilities of the federal Congress.
Article IV, Section 4. The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government, and shall protect each of them against Invasion . . . .
Amendment IX. The enumeration in the constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.
Amendment X. The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
Therefore, I submit to you the following:
The Maryland Constitution is the Law of our State. Therefore, based on current Law, the Legislature and the Governor have a constitutional responsibility to reject Federal legislation which subverts the State of Maryland’s sovereign rights or the People’s rights. To not do so, is to actually disobey the Maryland Constitution, which each of you and the Governor has taken an oath to support. With or without this resolution HJ2, Maryland’s Legislature has no choice but to reject Federal law when it goes beyond the U.S. Constitution’s bounds, as is the case in many pieces of legislation, enacted in the past, as well as some under consideration currently. I look forward to your resolve to follow Maryland’s law as you consider and give a favorable report to HJ2.
Thank you.
Cindy Sharretts
The text of HJ2 can be found at http://mlis.state.md.us/2010rs/billfile/HJ0002.htm. See Tenth Amendment efforts at www.tenthamendmentcenter.com. You can get copies of the Maryland Constitution from Legislative Services at 410-946-5400, 800-492-7122 or libr@mlis.state.md.us.
The link at http://www.msa.md.gov/msa/mdmanual/43const/html/const.html will take you to the Maryland Constitution online. At the MD General Assembly’s website, www.mlis.state.md.us, you can find contact information for state legislators, lists of committee members, current legislation and more. Citizen input is encouraged.
Cindy continues to show both her belief in the system and her strong faith in the future of the state and our great nation.
Keep up the great work Cindy.
Thank You Cindy and delegates for fighting for the rights of the people of Maryland. Sadly, I feel that too many of Maryland’s delegates care too little for the rights and freedoms of the people. We can only hope that Maryland will follow suit with 38 other states that have rejected this healthcare bill.
So does this mean that you’ll also be voting to turn down medicare and other federally funded programs in the state. I’m all for it as long as you bundle all other federal handouts. I mean why turn away one entree when you’ve been getting fat off the buffet.
Don’t get me wrong you want to go ahead and vote the bill down as a no go on principle…sure. But the constitution does not provide any provisions for social security, medicare, medicaid, etc. Turn down everything and I’m on board….eat at the trough on some and not others and your as big as a hypocrite as anyone else. Don’t say it can’t happen either, we can introduce legislation to cut off all federal programs, we’ll just have to produce from within our own capital. Much like Texas would do if they “separated from the union”…seen any oil wells in Maryland lately!
No matter how you cut it, the nation was split on the bill (and that too can be broken down into wording on surveys). Your just the half that didn’t like it, tough. I didn’t like the medicare prescription program, but I didn’t see anybody jumping up to run to Annapolis for that. I didn’t like the “everyone should have a home policy” but once again where was the constitutional run to Annapolis. Sorry your the half that it didn’t go in favor of, been there done that got the T-shirt.
Ron: At any point in time, we can’t prevent bad legislation from the past, but we can and should insist that all legislation from this point forward be constitutional. Some of us have advocated this for many years, regardless of issue or party. Some have only recently become aware. Each issue provides opportunity for people to grapple with American principles of government, as they compare attempted legislation and its consequences to seemingly abstract constitutional wording. Public dialogue on these concepts is appropriate at all times, regardless of one’s position on an issue. As people read state and federal constitutions, they should find that we can solve problems and govern life in better ways than what we have gotten used to. The urgency to turn to away from government by ignorance and liberty-theft gets greater with each piece of unconstitutional “law.”
Besides being a resolution, this has no bite and is attempted election year grandstanding,IMO.
The Supremecy Clause gives Federal law power over state laws when they come in conflict. With regards to the health care debate, the interstate commerce clause does give the Federal government power over the health care insurance business. The constitutionality of forced insurance coverage I would assume falls under the same standing as Social Security-a manditory retirement account.
While I oppose this law for a variety of reasons, I am even more disturbed that a country as wealthy as the US, which can dump BILLIONS of dollars into entainment every year still faces the issues of healthcare, poverty, etc. I find it more unsettling that a procedural loophole was used to take 2 different bills into law which is in direct contratiction to the spirit of the Constitution in what also appears to be election year grandstanding to save peoples political arses.
To make 2 different bills into a law…
Oh yes, to be resolved latter…
All I know is….the exec order that got Obamma the final votes in his “medicare reduction and abortion tax dollar funding act of 2010”, is legislating from the oval office…AND…a seizing of the power of the line item veto…
Nethier of these are powers allotted to the oval office…ergo…a seizing of power.
Go Dagger !
PS…stupak is realy stupid for falling for this scam.
Well….ain’t that the pot calling the kettle black.
No, it’s not, but thanks for playing.