Activists seek relief on 10th amendment woes

SALISBURY — A group of conservative activists from the Northwest Corner made the trek through the snow to Hartford last week to ask a state Senate committee to take up the subject of the 10th Amendment to the United States constitution.

Vivian Nasiatka, Chris Janelli, Alfred Nemiroff and Kathy Lauretano met with state Sen.Toni Boucher (R-26) and other members of the Connecticut Grassroots Alliance Wednesday, Feb. 17.

The Alliance is a coalition of 28 groups, including the Connecticut Tea Party Patriots and  a group founded by Nasiatka and Janelli last year called Distressed Patriots for America.

The activists asked the Government Administration and Elections Committee to raise the following resolution for a public hearing:

“Pursuant to the 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution, the state of Connecticut and its General Assembly retain sovereignty over all powers and duties not enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.�

According to the 10th Amendment Center Web site, similar resolutions have been introduced this year in Washington state, Arizona, New Mexico, Wyoming, Nebraska, Missouri, Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and Rhode Island.

Resolutions have passed at least one house of the legislatures in Utah, Kansas, Virginia and South Carolina, and Alabama’s resolution was signed by its governor.

The resolutions do not have the force of law, but actual bills have been introduced in Oklahoma, Missouri, Georgia and New Hampshire.

Nationally 10th amendment activism touches on a wide variety of issues, including gun control, medical marijuana, privacy and identification, health care and “cap and trade� environmental legislation.

But the focus of the Connecticut activists and sympathetic lawmakers is on federal mandates — often under- or unfunded — and the process by which such mandates are handed down. They believe it is an issue with broad appeal.

“For too long people in office haven’t been listening to the people,� Boucher said in a phone interview. When the Obama administration came in last year, “We saw an enormous wave of spending, and then health care on top of it.

“People are waking up and realizing these are not sustainable policies. And people should train their sights on Hartford and Washington.�

State Sen. Dan Debicella (R-21) wrote in an e-mail response to questions from The Journal, “Our proposal is nothing radical like nullification. I do not believe a state has the right to nullify a federal law.

“Our proposal simply says that the state of Connecticut can review federal laws to determine whether they violate the 10th Amendment. If they do, our redress is to take the federal government to court to get the law struck down as unconstitutional.�

Debicella and others cited the federal No Child Left Behind legislation as an example of intrusive federal involvement that annoys people across the political spectrum.

In his e-mail, he said:

“In No Child Left Behind ... the federal government mandated items like annual testing in an area that has always been left to the states [education]. �

The ongoing national debate on health-care reform was the tipping point for many people, Boucher said, inspiring political activism in “regular people who have never come out before. And the  guys in D.C. don’t seem to get it at all.â€�

State Sen. Andrew Roraback (R-30) said by phone that he doesn’t see health-care reform as a flash point for voters’ frustrations. “I think that is something we should be discussing.

“What has caused people to lose confidence is the kind of deal-making associated with it,� he said. “Vote-buying is not in keeping with the highest standards of our democracy.�

Roraback predicted that when the public hearing on the resolution is held — it has not yet been scheduled — “there will be an outpouring of sentiment.�

Nasiatka said the trip to Hartford was “exhilirating.�

“We have worked so long and hard on this, and what it’s boiled down to — especially with health care — is that the senators are finally listening.�