State of Illinois
90th General Assembly
Legislation

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90_SJ0005

                                               LRB9001813DNcc
 1                       SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION
 2        WHEREAS, Unfunded mandates by the United States  Congress
 3    and   the   executive   branch   of  the  federal  government
 4    increasingly strain already-tight state government budgets if
 5    the states are to comply; and
 6        WHEREAS,  To  further  compound  this  assault  on  state
 7    revenues, federal district courts, with the blessing  of  the
 8    United States Supreme Court, continue to order states to levy
 9    or  increase taxes to supplement their budgets to comply with
10    federal mandates; and
11        WHEREAS, The court's actions  are  an  intrusion  into  a
12    legitimate  legislative debate over state spending priorities
13    and not a response to a constitutional directive; and
14        WHEREAS, The Constitution of the United States of America
15    does not allow, nor do the states need, judicial intervention
16    requiring tax levies or increases as solutions to potentially
17    serious problems; and
18        WHEREAS, This usurpation of legislative authority  begins
19    a  process  that  over  time  could  threaten the fundamental
20    concept of separation of  powers  that  is  precious  to  the
21    preservation  of  the  form of our government embodied by the
22    Constitution of the United States of America; and
23        WHEREAS, Several states have petitioned the United States
24    Congress to propose an amendment to the Constitution  of  the
25    United States of America that reads as follows:
26        "Neither  the Supreme Court nor any inferior court of the
27    United States shall have the power to  instruct  or  order  a
28    state  or  political  subdivision  thereof, or an official of
29    such state or political  subdivision,  to  levy  or  increase
30    taxes."; therefore, be it
                            -2-                LRB9001813DNcc
 1        RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETIETH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
 2    OF  THE  STATE  OF  ILLINOIS,  THE  HOUSE  OF REPRESENTATIVES
 3    CONCURRING HEREIN, that this  legislative  body  respectfully
 4    requests  and  petitions the Congress of the United States to
 5    propose submission to the states for  their  ratification  an
 6    amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America
 7    to restrict the ability of the United States Supreme Court or
 8    any  inferior court of the United States to mandate any state
 9    or political subdivision of the state  to  levy  or  increase
10    taxes; and be it further
11        RESOLVED,  That  copies of this resolution be transmitted
12    to the President of the United States,  the  Speaker  of  the
13    United  States  House  of  Representatives, the President Pro
14    Tempore of the United States Senate,  the  Secretary  of  the
15    United States Senate, the Clerk of the United States House of
16    Representatives,    and   the   members   of   the   Illinois
17    Congressional delegation.

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