Speaker Bill Howell, together with Professor Randy Barnett today announced an innovative solution to the problem of the nearly uncheckable growth of the Federal Government.
Virginia, which served as a model for the U.S. Constitution 223 years ago, would launch the effort to add a “repeal amendment” to the Constitution. The amendment, if ratified by the states, would allow the legislatures of 33 states to essentially “veto” any law passed by Congress.
It reads:
“Any provision of law or regulation of the United States may be repealed by the several states, and such repeal shall be effective when the legislatures of two-thirds of the several states approve resolutions for this purpose that particularly describe the same provision or provisions of law or regulation to be repealed.”
The erosion of the Constitutional checks and balances set up by our nation’s founders has left states teetering on the brink of irrelevancy; their power all but usurped by Washington. Believers in the principles of federalism know that drastic action – beyond electoral victories – is necessary.
Is Howell’s solution the correct one? If so, can it be done? Would anyone on the other side of the Potomac embrace the idea that state legislatures could check the power of the Washington establishment?
Right now, the idea of a ‘Repeal Amendment’ leaves us with more questions than answers. But Howell should be commended for leading in the direction of federalism and exploring a real step in the right direction for Virginia and the nation.
