THORPE FLOOR AMENDMENT
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AMENDMENTS TO H.B. 2700
(Reference to printed bill)
Page 1, line 5, after "report" insert "; recovery of state lands; documentation of federal authority"
Line 6, before "the" insert "A."
Line 7, after "acquired" insert "or reclassified"
Line 10, after "code" insert "section"; after the parenthesis insert "or wilderness areas"; after "acquisition" insert "or reclassification"
Between lines 41 and 42, insert:
"B. The legislature and the attorney general shall take all steps, if deemed necessary, to recover and acquire all state lands within this state that have been acquired by the federal government, especially state lands that have been acquired in a manner that is inconsistent with the limited enumerated powers and functions of the federal government as prescribed in the Constitution of the United States. State lands may be recovered or acquired from the federal government in any appropriate manner, including in lieu land exchanges based on land value and not acreage.
C. Beginning in 2014 and every even-numbered year thereafter, the attorney general shall contact the president of the United States, the speaker of the United States house of representatives, the president of the United States senate and the chief justice of the United States supreme court and demand detailed written justifications that document the specific constitutional authority that allows the federal government to hold, take or acquire land in this sovereign state. The attorney general shall report to the legislature any response or lack of response."
Line 43, after "that" insert ":
1."
Page 2, after line 6, insert:
"2. The Third and Fifth Amendments of the Constitution of the United States establish essential constitutional rights and protections of property. Contrary to the Enabling Act of 1912, the federal withholding of over fifty per cent of the sovereign lands in this state is further exacerbated by the taking of hundreds of thousands of additional acres under the Antiquities Act of 1906 (34 Stat. 225; 16 United States Code section 431) in stark contradiction to the defined limitations of the Antiquities Act that state "of land, the limits of which in all cases shall be confined to the smallest area." In direct violation of article 1, section 8, clause 17 of the Constitution of the United States, state lands have been taken for nonenumerated federal purposes, without legislative approval and without the constitutionally required just compensation paid to the state land trust for the education of Arizona children as required by the Enabling Act. The unique, coveted nature of these lands indicates that these lands are far more valuable than typical lands, and so the state must receive higher than normal just compensation for these lands, whether in a purchase price or by means of an exchange for significantly more federally controlled lands located within this state.
Sec. 3. Transmittal of this act
The Secretary of State of the State of Arizona shall transmit a copy of this act to the President of the United States and each Member of Congress from this state."
Amend title to conform
Bob Thorpe |