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ARIZONA STATE SENATE
Fifty-Seventh Legislature, First Regular Session
sovereign authority
Purpose
Expresses the state's intent to exercise sovereignty over all powers not otherwise granted to the Federal Government or reserved to the people by the U.S. Constitution.
Background
The U.S. Constitution provides that the enumeration of certain rights in the Constitution must not be construed to deny or disparage other rights retained by the people. The powers that are not delegated to the Federal Government and that are not prohibited to the states, are reserved to the states, or the people (U.S. Const. amend. IX and X).
Arizona voters approved Proposition 122 in 2014 which declares that the U.S. Constitution is the supreme law of the land to which state and federal government is subject. To protect people's freedoms and to preserve checks and balances on the U.S. Constitution, the state may exercise its sovereign authority to restrict the actions of its personnel and to use its financial resources for purposes that are consistent with the U.S. Constitution by passing legislation or pursuing any other available legal remedy. If the people or their representatives exercise sovereign authority, the state and any political subdivisions of the state may not use any personnel or financial resources to enforce, administer or cooperate with the designated federal action or program (Proposition 122; Ariz. Const. art. 2 ยง 3).
There is no anticipated fiscal impact to the state General Fund associated with this legislation.
Provisions
1. Expresses the state's intent to reassert and exercise the state's sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the Federal Government or reserved to the people by the U.S. Constitution.
2. States that in accordance with the Ninth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and Article II of the Arizona Constitution, the rights of the people are not limited to those enumerated in the federal or state constitutions, and that the state reaffirms its commitment to protect all liberties and constitutional rights retained by the people.
3. States that the resolution serves as notice and demand to the Federal Government, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of the constitutionally delegated powers.
4. States that all compulsory federal legislation, rules, actions or programs that direct states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions, that require states to pass legislation, lose federal funding or that have been declared by any federal court to be unconstitutionally coercive or commandeering be prohibited or repealed.
5. States that the citizens of the state are empowered and encouraged to take any action and pursue any available legal remedy to assert this state's sovereign authority consistent with Article II of the Arizona Constitution.
6. Requires the Secretary of State to transmit copies of the resolution to:
a) the President of the United States;
b) the President of the U.S. Senate;
c) the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives;
d) the Speaker of the House and President of the Senate for each state's legislature; and
e) each member of Congress from Arizona.
House Action
GOV 2/19/25 DP 5-1-0-1
3rd Read 3/3/25 36-26-2
Prepared by Senate Research
March 13, 2025
AN/DL/slp