Ohio’s State Sovereignty Resolution Will Go to Floor of Senate!
Yesterday, the Senate State & Local Government & and Veterans Affairs committee heard public testimony for and against SCR-13 in the South Hearing room of the Statehouse. After hearing a number of citizens for and the Deputy Director of the Ohio Environmental Council who gave testimony against the resolution, the committee voted in favor of [...]
Ohio’s State Sovereignty Resolution up for Debate
BREAKING NEWS!
TOMORROW, Tuesday, September, 22
According to trusted sources of The Liberty Voice, the Resolution for Ohio’s State Sovereignty, SCR-13 has opened the door for public testimony at the South Hearing Room of the Statehouse at 10 a.m. Proponents of both sides are encouraged to attend the hearing and speak up for what they believe.
For those in defense of the US Constitution, the Tenth Amendment sums up the position of those for the resolution:
“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
Ohio Sovereignty Resolution Introduced into Senate by Grendell and Faber
On May 7th the Senate version of the Ohio Sovereignty Resolution (SCR-13) was introduced with two primary sponsors; Senators Timothy Grendell and Keith Faber, and six co-sponsors; Senators Gibbs, Buehrer, Cates, Hughes, Schuler, and Schuring. The resolution has been assigned to the Senate Reference Committee who will either send it directly to the floor or to a standing committee for consideration.
On May 13th there was a hearing on the House version of the Ohio Sovereignty Resolution (HCR-11) before the State Government Committee. Representatives Kris Jordan and Jarrod Martin gave testimony in favor of the resolution; however, no public testimony was allowed. As of the print deadline, another hearing on the House version has not yet been scheduled.
Ohio joins 35 other states to consider this type of resolution. Thus far eight states: Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina and South Dakota have passed a similar resolution in at least one chamber of their respective legislatures.
Ohio Representative Kris Jordan (2nd House District) Sponsor Testimony for House Concurrent Resolution 11
Editor’s note: I am proud to not only be from the 2nd Ohio District where Rep. Jordan resides, but to have known him since he worked tirelessly to become Delaware’s (youngest?) County Commissioner. As a freshman Ohio congressman, Rep. Jordan was voted by his peers to serve as the Assistant Minority Whip of the Ohio House of Representatives. This is Rep. Jordan’s first bill, and I pray that he continues his courageous fight on behalf of the citizens of Delaware, Ohio. PLEASE, encourage him in support of what he has done on behalf of the citizens of Ohio.
Phone: (614) 644-6711
Fax: (614) 719-0002
Email: district02@ohr.state.oh.us
Chairman Gerberry, ranking member Daniels, and members of State Government Committee, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak to you today about House Concurrent Resolution 11. I would also like to thank Rep. Martin for jointly sponsoring this resolution with me, as well as the Ohio Freedom Alliance, who provided excellent assistance with grassroots efforts to help garner support.
Currently, more than 35 states have introduced resolutions to declare their sovereignty to the federal government. These resolutions all share a single purpose: to start a critical discussion on the issue of federal encroachment into the rights of states, and to remind the folks in Washington DC that our founding fathers strongly believed in federalism and enforcing the limits of the federal governments’ power. We need to stop government gone wild!
Thomas Jefferson once said, “When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” I don’t trust the government; neither did our Founding Fathers. That is why they gave us federalism, checks and balances, the Declaration of Independence, the peaceful passing of power, our Constitution, as well as the freedoms of religion, speech, a fair trial, and the right to bear arms, among others…
They would be shocked with what they see today, at how government has grown, how it has chipped away our rights, how it believes government is the only answer to our problems…. Not like our Founding Fathers believed, that government solutions to problems are usually worse than the problems themselves. I believe the resolution Rep. Martin and I have introduced will lead to a meaningful discussion about where we are now and where we ought to be.
We should not be spending our children’s futures on a one-time bailout from the federal government. We should not leverage a large portion of our state budget on funds from DC that will not be there in the future. This will lead us towards higher taxes and bigger government, and I strongly believe this means less freedom. We should instead exercise our constitutional right to determine our own goals, taxes, spending levels, and values.
STATE SOVEREIGNTY RESOLUTION TO BE INTRODUCED IN THE OHIO SENATE
The following introduction text is based on text from the Ohio Republic blog.
Senators Keith Faber (R-Celina) and Timothy Grendell (R-Chesterland) introduced a State sovereignty resolution Wednesday, April 6, 2009. While modeled on Oklahoma’s, it contains language that has never appeared in another State sovereignty resolution. There are now 35 states that have introduced (with varying levels of success) such resolutions.
One of the most interesting paragraphs effectively addresses the media assertion that the resolution is “secessionist”: “… We believe in the importance of all levels of government working together to serve the citizens of our country, by respecting the constitutional provisions that properly delineate the authority of federal state, and local governments.”
It includes a reference to Printz v. United States/Mack v. United States, 521 U.S. 898 (1997), in addition to the more common reference to New York v. United States, 505 U.S. 144 (1992). The resolution also quotes James Madison in the Federalist Papers Nos. 39 and 51 as well as the Kentucky Resolution written by Thomas Jefferson.
Following is the complete text of Ohio’s resolution:
