Sen. McLachlan Key Player in Moving Tenth Amendment Legislation Forward

Takes lead role in moving proposal forward to a public hearing

Hartford, CT- State Senator Michael McLachlan (R-24), the Connecticut Grassroots Alliance and a coalition of legislative leaders today announced that the Government Administration and Elections Committee (GAE) will raise legislation reasserting Connecticut’s Tenth Amendment rights under the Constitution. The committee will hold a public hearing on the resolution during the 2010 legislative session.

“Sen. Gayle Slossberg, co-chair of the GAE Committee, just this morning agreed to raise one of our proposals for a public hearing and has given the citizens of our state the opportunity to discuss this important issue.” said Sen. McLachlan, who serves as ranking senator on GAE. “Congratulations to the citizen activists who came out this afternoon to show their support. Their leadership and dedication to the Constitution has played an important role in moving this legislation forward.”

The Tenth Amendment Resolution calls on Congress to create only statutes that fall within their constitutional authority. The resolution is a key step towards defining in state statute the limits of congressional power. Sen. McLachlan has also proposed legislation that would define statutorily Connecticut’s rights under the Tenth Amendment and create a method by which the state can review federal laws, regulations and programs for compliance with the Tenth Amendment. Legislators and activists are committed to pursuing the proposed statute and consider the headway made on the resolution an important step in the right direction.

Also in attendance at the press conference were: Sen. Toni Boucher (R-26), Sen. Dan Debicella (R-21), Sen. Rob Kane (R-32), Rep. John W. Hetherington (R-125), Rep. Christopher D. Coutu (R-47), Rep. T.R. Rowe (R-123), Rep. Vincent J. Candelora (R-86), Rep. John E. Piscopo (R-76), and Rep. David K. Labriola (R-131)

“The federal government has been steadily expanding their authority in areas the Constitution has not authorized,” said Sen. McLachlan. “Even ‘conservative’ federal administrations have ignored the Constitution and imposed both health and educational mandates on states. The most recent federal health care proposal, if passed, will be by far the most serious overreach of Congressional power and its times for states to begin speaking up. Washington DC has a terrible habit of passing unfunded mandates down to states and the Connecticut General Assembly has done the same thing to our towns and cities. This top down approach on both the state and federal level is unsustainable, unconstitutional, and must stop.

“While this legislation won’t singlehandedly stop Congress from legislating issues outside their enumerated powers it will make a strong statement that the people of Connecticut are no longer willing to allow the federal government free reign over their lives,” added Sen. McLachlan. “The Tenth Amendment should speak for itself and I only hope that the federal government will be reminded by our efforts in Connecticut to conduct their legislation within its boundaries.”