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24LSO-0488
2024
STATE OF WYOMING
24LSO-0488
Numbered
2.0
HOUSE BILL NO. HB0167
Restoring state sovereignty through nullification.
Sponsored by: Representative(s) Strock, Allemand, Bear, Haroldson, Heiner, Jennings, Knapp, Locke, Pendergraft, Slagle, Smith and Ward and Senator(s) Hutchings and Ide
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to the administration of government; providing legislative findings; establishing a process by which the state of Wyoming may enter an order of nullification to nullify unconstitutional federal actions; authorizing petitions for seeking nullification; specifying duties of the secretary of state and legislative leadership; authorizing rulemaking; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1
.
W.S. 9
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14
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301 through 9
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14
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305 are created to read:
CHAPTER 14
PROTECTION OF CONSTITUTIONAL AND STATE RIGHTS
ARTICLE 3
NULLIFICATION OF FEDERAL LAW
9
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14
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301.
Short title.
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Restoring State Sovereignty Through Nullification Act."
9
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14
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302.
Legislative findings.
(a)
The legislature finds that:
(i)
Article 1, section 1 of the Wyoming constitution provides that "all power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety and happiness";
(ii)
When "We the People" ordained and established the United States constitution, the people and the states granted only specific, limited powers to the federal government, with those powers being enumerated in Article I, Section 8 of the United States constitution;
(iii)
Articles I, II and III of the United States constitution vests the legislative, executive and judicial powers to and within separate branches of the federal government, creating a horizontal separation of powers so that lawmaking powers are vested only in the legislative branch through the United States congress, enforcement powers are vested only in the executive branch through the president and executive agencies and judicial powers are vested only in the judicial branch through the United States supreme court and other inferior courts that Congress may create;
(iv)
Nothing in the United States constitution permits congress to delegate or confer any lawmaking power to any other branch of government because congress has no enumerated powers to create lawmakers. When the president and the federal courts are vested with the executive and judicial powers, neither of those branches are granted general powers of lawmaking. Therefore, no person, agency or department of any other branch of the federal government, including the United States supreme court, has any lawmaking power under the United States constitution;
(v)
The principle of separation of powers is so innately representative of a republican form of government that the Wyoming constitution, in article 2, section 1, upholds and reinforces the principle of separation of powers within three (3) departments of the state government of Wyoming;
(vi)
When creating a federal government by ratifying the United States constitution, the people and the states also designed a second, and more important, separation of powers, that being a vertical separation of powers between the superior sovereign states and the inferior federal government;
(vii)
A vertical separation of powers was explicitly set out in Article I, Section 8 of the United States constitution, wherein only limited, enumerated lawmaking powers were granted to the federal government;
(viii)
This vertical separation of powers was also incorporated into the bill of rights in the United States constitution, where:
(A)
In the first amendment to the United States constitution, congress was specifically denied lawmaking power within those fields listed in the first amendment;
(B)
In the ninth amendment to the United States constitution, the federal government was expressly prohibited from interfering with rights not specified in the United States constitution; and
(C)
In the tenth amendment to the United States constitution, the federal government was expressly denied powers not delegated to it in the United States constitution.
(ix)
Any federal action that violates the horizontal separation of powers or that exceeds the jurisdictional limits imposed by the vertical separation of powers in the United States constitution is void, as the United States constitution is the supreme law of the land;
(x)
The United States supreme court has stated that "a law repugnant to the Constitution is void." An act of congress repugnant to the United States constitution cannot become a law. The Constitution supersedes all other laws, and the individual's rights shall be liberally enforced in favor of him, the clearly intended and expressly delegated beneficiary.
Marbury v. Madison
, 5 U.S. 137, 180 (1803);
(xi)
"An unconstitutional law is void and is as no law. An offence created by it is not a crime. A conviction under it is not merely erroneous, but is illegal and void, and cannot be a legal cause of imprisonment."
Ex parte Siebold
, 100 U.S. 371, 376–77 (1879);
(xii)
"An unconstitutional act is not a law; it confers no rights; it imposes no duties; it affords no protection; it creates no office; it is, in legal contemplation, as inoperative as though it had never been passed."
Norton v. Shelby County
, 118 U.S. 425, 442 (1886);
(xiii)
"Where rights secured by the Constitution are involved, there can be no rule making or legislation which would abrogate them."
Miranda v. Arizona
, 384 U.S. 436, 491 (1966);
(xiv)
The United States constitution assures the people and the states that their respective rights and powers will be respected by the federal government;
(xv)
Under Article 6, Section 20 of the Wyoming constitution, each member of the legislature is required to take an oath to support, obey and defend the constitution of the United States and the Wyoming constitution;
(xvi)
The people are the ultimate source of human governmental power under our constitutions. The states, through their elected officers, are bound to fulfill their oath of office to preserve the rights of the people. It is therefore long overdue and urgently necessary for the state of Wyoming to prescribe the manner in which, under the United States constitution and the Wyoming constitution, the people's rights and the state's sovereignty may be asserted as against federal officeholders, whether individually or collectively.
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14
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303.
Definitions.
(a)
As used in this act:
(i)
"Federal action" means:
(A)
A federal law, rule, regulation, policy or standard;
(B)
An executive order issued by the president of the United States;
(C)
An order or decision of a federal court;
(D)
The making or enforcing of a treaty.
(ii)
"Nullification" means the process by which the state makes an official declaration in accordance with this act;
(iii)
"Unconstitutional federal action" means a federal action that is enacted, adopted or implemented without authority that was expressly delegated to the federal government by the people and the states through the United States constitution;
(iv)
"This act" means W.S. 9
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14
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301 through 9
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4
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305.
9
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14
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304.
Review of federal actions; authority for nullification of federal actions.
(a)
When evaluating a federal action under this act, the legislature shall consider the plain reading and reasoning of the text of the United States constitution and the understood definitions at the time of the framing and construction of the United States constitution by the framers before making a final declaration of constitutionality, as demonstrated by:
(i)
The ratifying debates in the several states;
(ii)
The understanding of the leading participants at the constitutional convention;
(iii)
The understanding of the doctrine in question by the constitutions of the several states in existence at the time the United States constitution was adopted;
(iv)
The understanding of the United States constitution by the first United States congress;
(v)
The opinions of the first chief justice of the United States supreme court;
(vi)
The background understanding of the doctrine in question under the principles comprising the British constitution at the time the United States constitution was ratified;
(vii)
The statements of support for natural law and natural rights by the framers and the philosophers admired by the framers.
(b)
Before conducting a roll call vote on the floor of each house of the legislature to adopt an order of nullification, the assigned committee may debate any order of nullification, express its approval or disapproval and add any penalty for violations. The results of all committee action and the result of any roll call vote shall be published in the journal of each house and disseminated in the same manner as other bills.
(c)
The legislature shall have the sole authority to prescribe the crimes, fines, penalties or other consequences of the violation of an order of nullification by any person found within Wyoming. Any penalties associated with nullification shall be specified in accordance with law before a final vote is taken for passage.
(d)
All federal actions shall comply with the jurisdictional limitations of the United States constitution. Any federal action outside the enumerated powers set forth in the United States constitution are in violation of the peace and safety of the people of the state of Wyoming, are void and shall be resisted.
(e)
The proper manner of resistance of a void federal action is a state action of nullification of the federal action in accordance with this act.
(f)
For purposes of this act, nullification of a federal action shall be an official declaration of the state made in accordance with this act that:
(i)
A specific federal action has exceeded the prescribed authority under the United States constitution;
(ii)
The identified federal action that is declared ultra vires shall not be recognized as valid within the bounds of the state of Wyoming and shall be null and void;
(iii)
An officeholder, agency or government employee of the state of Wyoming, city, county and any other political subdivision shall not assist in any attempted enforcement of the identified federal action;
(iv)
State or local funds collected under the authority of the Wyoming constitution or under Wyoming law shall not be used to assist in any attempted enforcement of the identified federal action.
9
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14
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305.
Petitions for reviewing federal action; state nullification of unconstitutional federal actions.
(a)
A federal action that is unconstitutional may be nullified in any of the following ways:
(i)
The governor may issue an executive order nullifying an unconstitutional federal action. Any executive order issued under this paragraph shall bind all agencies, boards and departments of the executive department;
(ii)
Any member or committee of the legislature may introduce an order nullification in the legislature to nullify an unconstitutional federal action. Any order of nullification shall have the force and effect of law;
(iii)
Any court operating under the authority of the Wyoming constitution and Wyoming law may render a finding or a holding of nullification in any case in which the court has proper jurisdiction. Any parties subject to a finding or holding under this paragraph shall be bound in the same manner as in other cases or opinions;
(iv)
Any combination of ten (10) cities, towns or counties, through the action of a majority of the governing body of each city, town or county, may submit a petition of nullification of an unconstitutional federal action to the speaker of the house of representatives or the president of the senate and to the attorney general and governor. Upon receipt of a valid petition submitted under this paragraph, the speaker or president shall introduce a legislative order to nullify the unconstitutional federal action at the next legislative session;
(v)
The people of Wyoming may submit a petition of nullification of an unconstitutional federal action to the secretary of state in accordance with subsection (b) of this section. Upon receipt of a valid petition submitted under this paragraph, the speaker or president shall introduce a legislative order to nullify the unconstitutional federal action at the next legislative session.
(b)
A petition submitted by the people to seek nullification of an unconstitutional federal action shall be submitted in accordance with all of the following:
(i)
The petition shall be signed by not less than two thousand (2,000) qualified electors of the state;
(ii)
The petition shall be submitted to the secretary of state;
(iii)
The petition shall be in a form and manner prescribed by rule of the secretary of state. The petition shall include, at a minimum, the unconstitutional federal action subject to the petition, the date or year of the unconstitutional federal action, the federal branch, official or agency that issued the action and the action or part of the action believed to be unconstitutional;
(iv)
Upon submission of a petition under this subsection, the secretary of state shall review the petition and determine whether the petition complies with the requirements of this paragraph;
(v)
Upon determining that a petition complies with the requirements of this paragraph, the secretary of state shall certify the petition and shall forward the petition to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, the governor and the attorney general for action in accordance with paragraph (a)(v) of this section.
(c)
The procedures for nullification specified in this act may be used to challenge any federal action enacted before, on or after the effective date of this act. No order or petition for nullification shall be rejected because of any perceived statute of limitation or because of the time that has lapsed since the federal action was first issued or taken.
Section 2
.
This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.
(END)
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HB0167