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91_SJ0015
LRB9102169PTpk
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
31 RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE NINETY-FIRST GENERAL
-2- LRB9102169PTpk
1 ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE HOUSE OF
2 REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING HEREIN, that this legislative body
3 respectfully requests and petitions the Congress of the
4 United States to propose submission to the states for their
5 ratification an amendment to the Constitution of the United
6 States of America to restrict the ability of the United
7 States Supreme Court or any inferior court of the United
8 States to mandate any state or political subdivision of the
9 state to levy or increase taxes; and be it further
10 RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be transmitted
11 to the President of the United States, the Speaker of the
12 United States House of Representatives, the President Pro
13 Tempore of the United States Senate, the Secretary of the
14 United States Senate, the Clerk of the United States House of
15 Representatives, and the members of the Illinois
16 Congressional delegation.