Background Information

Background
Information







Defending State Sovereignty

The 10th Amendment Resolution is a measure designed to defend state sovereignty by bringing
the division of power between the federal government and Pennsylvania’s state government back in line
with the vision proscribed by America’s Founding Fathers as expressed through the 10th Amendment to
the United States Constitution.

10th Amendment to the United State Constitution

• “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.”

Why It Matters

Every authority that is commandeered by the federal government is another authority that cannot
be exercised by the individual states. This results in more state decisions being made by stakeholders
who have few or no direct ties to that state. For example, when the federal government makes a
decision that should rightfully be left up to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, this means that
residents in San Francisco and New York City – who are represented by their members in Congress –
exert undue influence over policies that will be implemented in the keystone state.

Those who seek to uphold the 10th Amendment’s constraints on federal authority inherently seek
to ensure that those decisions that can be made by state and local governments are made in those arenas.
This eliminates the scenario where San Francisco and New York City residents exert an undue influence
on Pennsylvania policies and vice versa. Instead, 10th Amendment defenders believe federal authority
should be constrained to those policies that are beyond the reach and scope of the individual states, such
as national defense and national border security.

Federal Abuses of Power

The federal government, in numerous cases over the years, has overstepped its authority as
defined under the 10th Amendment to the United States Constitution. The 10th Amendment guarantees
that any powers that are not enumerated to the federal government in the Constitution are reserved to the
states.

The primary way in which the federal government abuses its power is by “bribing” state
lawmakers with federal tax dollars. Under this system, the federal government promises funding to state

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governments. However, in order to qualify for the funding, states must bring their programs in line with
federal policies and regulations. In this manner, federal lawmakers exercise undue influence on state
programs and services by “tying strings” to federal funding. This has led state governments to expand
programs and services beyond reasonable levels, thus making them dependent on future federal funding
and subject to the strings that are attached to that money.

Specific Examples of Federal Abuses of the 10th Amendment

In addition to the funding issue, state lawmakers point to several specific federal programs and
policies that infringe on state sovereignty under the 10th Amendment. Specifically, these include:

• A federal law (Real ID) requiring states to create new, intrusive personal identification
cards.
• The No Child Left Behind (NCLB) law, which pressures states and local school districts
to conform to federally mandated education policies.
• Federal programs and regulations that intervene in the private health care market and
place undue restrictions and burdens on doctors and patients.

In each case, the federal government has exercised undue influence over policy decisions that are
rightly the domain of the states.

National Movement to Defend State Sovereignty

Pennsylvania is one of many states looking to reassert its constitutional authority under the 10th
Amendment. According to the 10th Amendment Center (www.TenthAmendmentCenter.com), similar
resolutions have been introduced in Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, Arkansas, Minnesota,
South Carolina, Georgia, Kansas, Texas, New Hampshire, Missouri, Iowa, Montana, Michigan, Arizona,
Washington and Oklahoma.

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