Attorney General-elect Pam Bondi says she wants to help restore balance between the federal government and the states. Today she announced her support of the Repeal Amendment, an amendment to the U.S. Constitution which would allow two-thirds of the states to repeal any law or regulation of Congress.

So far, the legislative leadership in a little less than one-quarter of the states has committed to trying to get the amendment passed. Besides Florida, those states include Virginia, Texas, Montana, Iowa, Georgia, Indiana, South Carolina, Missouri, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Utah. Bondi is one of just three attorneys general who have publicly announced their support.

"The federal government has significantly overstepped its constitutional boundaries by enacting a health care mandate that is not only unconstitutional and an abuse of government power, but will devastate our economy, create a shortage of doctors and a loss of jobs," said Bondi. "The Repeal Amendment would create an extraordinary remedy to fight back against the most extraordinary instances of federal overreach.”

Ken Cuccinelli, attorney for the commonwealth of Virginia, says the Repeal Amendment will act as an important check against an expanding federal government.

“I am enthusiastically supporting the repeal amendment in order to restore the balance of power between the citizens and the federal government," said Cuccinelli. "Over the past several decades, no matter which party is in charge, the federal government has been eroding the authority of the states and the liberty of citizens.”

But Sen. Dave Aronberg, who ran for attorney general in the Democratic primary and now serves on Bondi's transition team, says the effort to pass a repeal amendment is unnecessary.

"The framers of our Constitution were bright people and they came up with checks and balances that have worked well for the last 200-plus years," he said. "I don't see a need to meddle with their handiwork."

Had an amendment like this been in place now, it might have been used to try to repeal such laws as President Barack Obama's health-care legislation, he said.

Like Cuccinelli, Aronberg pointed out that both parties have been guilty of trying to expand the powers of the federal government.

In 2000, the Supreme Court stopped Florida's state-ordered recount in the Bush v. Gore case. That was an unprecedented ruling.

"That's an example of the conservative Supreme Court choosing to expand the role of government," said Aronberg. "This has been happening long before President Obama."

Senate President Mike Haridopolos, who is also working on a bill that would allow Floridians to opt-out of the Obama health-care requirements, has come out in support of the amendment.

“What we have seen over the past few years is a consistent, growing power grab from the federal government," said Haridopolos. "The idea behind the Repeal Amendment is federalism at its core – it gives power back to the states as the founders intended. If we do not stand now and stand firm, we are undermining our Constitution, and the 10th Amendment becomes meaningless. The Repeal Amendment takes that stand and that is why I am happy to support it.”

Thirty-eight states are needed to ratify.

In order to pass the amendment, it would have to get through both houses of Congress with a two-thirds vote in the House and Senate. But states could bypass Congress altogether by filing an Article 5 application for an Amendment Convention. At the convention, the legislators could vote on it and if it's approved there, it goes back to the states for voters to ratify.

 

Lane Wright can be reached at lane@sunshinestatenews.com or (561) 247-1063.