Proposition 122 restores Arizona's authority to reject federal mandates

When Arizona voters cast their ballots in November, they will have the chance to restore state sovereignty by voting yes on Proposition 122. This would allow Arizona to ban the use of any state money or resources to implement a federal law that they deem inconsistent with the Constitution.

The ballot measure was enacted after the Arizona state legislature passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 1016 (SCR1016) last year. The state Senate passed it by a 16-12 margin, and then in the state House approved it 36-23. Now it is up to the voters in Arizona.

“It empowers the citizens of Arizona to decide, as new laws come up, whether they are a benefit to Arizona or not,” said former state lawmaker Jonathan Paton, a political consultant who is helping pass the measure. “We should have checks and balances and this is a simple, straightforward way of doing that.”

“Politicians in Washington are fond of passing far-reaching laws, but more often than not they depend on state and local governments – and state and local taxpayers – to implement them. This means that not only is Congress making life harder for Arizonans, they’re asking us to pay the bill,” according to the Yes on 122 website. “That’s why a bipartisan majority of the Arizona Legislature came together to pass Prop 122.”

When the federal government assumes powers not explicitly granted to it in the Constitution, it puts the states on the road to ruin and creates a citizenry of dependents. The benefits of passing Prop. 122 include:

• Protecting the financial future of our children and grandchildren by requiring federal government agencies to exhibit greater transparency and efficiency before receiving any state funds.
• Preventing federal regulators from imposing many restrictions on the health care choices of patients and businesses.
• Stopping the federal government from harming citizens by taking land and water away from communities that need it.

This ballot initiative coincides with the words of James Madison, who wrote in Federalist #46:

Should an unwarrantable measure of the federal government be unpopular in particular States, which would seldom fail to be the case, or even a warrantable measure be so, which may sometimes be the case, the means of opposition to it are powerful and at hand. The disquietude of the people; their repugnance and, perhaps, refusal to co-operate with the officers of the Union; the frowns of the executive magistracy of the State; the embarrassments created by legislative devices, which would often be added on such occasions, would oppose, in any State, difficulties not to be despised; would form, in a large State, very serious impediments; and where the sentiments of several adjoining States happened to be in unison, would present obstructions which the federal government would hardly be willing to encounter.     

If passed, Proposition 122 will send a clear message to the federal government: if they want to pass legislation and regulations that damage Arizona, they must pay for them with federal money with no assistance from the Arizona Treasury or from local government funds.

This article originally appeared by the author at Examiner.com