Federalism and International Relations
Task Force Description
State legislators and their constituents are stakeholders in many of the most important national and international issues of the day. The members of the Federalism and International Relations Task Force believe in the power of free markets and limited government to propel economic growth in the United States and around the globe, and that these guiding principles are just as relevant overseas as they are in America. The Task Force brings together state legislators, policy experts and industry representatives to develop model policy to increase exports, safeguard intellectual property rights, promote the nation’s security, and restore the Constitutionally-designated balance of power between the states and the federal government.
The Task Force has considered and adopted model policy on the very initiatives that grow the U.S. economy, create American jobs and unleash the innovative policy-making capacity of all 50 states. Model policy to address the finalization of a truly free-market Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) as well as leverage America’s growing ability to export domestically produced energy are among those in the International policy portfolio. However, American ingenuity and the intellectual property (IP) underpinning it are the engines driving U.S. economic growth. Underscoring the important role that strong IP rights play in creating high-paying American jobs and spurring America’s innovation economy round out the Task Force’s International model policy library.
Real solutions to America’s challenges can be found in the states – America’s fifty laboratories of democracy – not in one-size-fits-all federal government policies that disregard regional differences and local community needs. The nation has drifted away from our Founding Fathers’ vision by concentrating more power with national government structures. Overregulation and redundant bureaucracy that hinder economic growth, a ballooning national debt that threatens our nation’s security, and federal mismanagement of our country’s most precious resource – the lands within America’s borders – have been the consequences of this federal overreach. The Task Force has adopted model policy supporting the use of Article V of the U.S. Constitution as a tool to restore appropriate control to the states including the proposal of a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution. ALEC has established the Center to Restore the Balance of Government to serve as a resource to state on setting priorities on state sovereignty issues and to provide the tools lawmakers need to champion policies that lead to state control over state issues.
This unique partnership between those interested in international issues and those whose primary focus is federalism has served Task Force members and the model policy adopted in the Task Force well. Our models are discussed at the highest levels of U.S. federal and state governments, and foreign governments and international bodies are familiar with ALEC model policy related to their regions.
In order to capitalize on the specialized knowledge of the Task Force members we have formed three subcommittees: Federalism, Intellectual Property and National Security. Subcommittee Chairs are specialists in their respective disciplines having worked on these issues within their legislatures and/or in their careers outside the legislature.
Meeting Information
Task Force Meeting Agenda
Thursday, December 1, 2022
1:45 PM EST – 4:45 PM EST
1:45 PM Call to Order
Welcome, Approval of the Minutes and Introductions
1:50 PM Presentation: Better Budgeting and Stronger Sovereignty with Structural Balance
2:00 PM Presentation: Economy, Energy, Security, Societal Challenges:
Federalism in Turbulent Times
2:20 PM Model Policy Consideration: Resolution in Support of Deepening Euro-Atlantic Integration of the Republic of Moldova
2:25 PM Presentation: Surrendering Our Intellectual Property Is a Costly and Misguided Policy
2:35 PM Model Policy Consideration: Resolution Calling on the Current Presidential Administration to Oppose Efforts to Undermine Global Intellectual Property Rights
2:45 PM Presentation: Combatting Antisemitism in 2023
3:00 PM Presentation: The Phoenix Correspondence Commission (PCC) – A New Tool for Effective Federalism
3:20 PM Model Policy Consideration: Act to Ensure US Amendments Ratified by Article V State Conventions are a Vote of “We the People”
3:25 PM Model Policy Consideration: Resolution in Support of Repealing the Jones Act
3:30 PM Presentation: The Economic Consequences of a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan
3:50 PM Model Policy Consideration: Resolution Supporting Taiwan’s Meaningful Participation in International Organizations Including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and Interpol
4:00 PM Model Policy Consideration: Amendments to an Act to Prohibit State Contracts with Chinese
Government-Owned or Affiliated Technology Manufacturers
4:10 PM Presentation: Agricultural Land Acquisition Is a National Security Issue
4:30 PM Model Policy Consideration: Act to Prohibit State Board of Regents from Investing Public University Trust Funds in Companies Associated with the Government of China
4:35 PM Model Policy Consideration: Resolution on Measures to Restore Federal Fiscal Responsibility in the Event of an Article V Amendments Convention
4:40 PM For the Good of the Order
4:45 PM Adjournment
Draft Policies
- Resolution Supporting Taiwan’s Meaningful Participation in International Organizations Including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and Interpol
- Resolution Calling on the Current Presidential Administration to Oppose Efforts to Undermine Global Intellectual Property Rights
- Resolution in Support of Repealing the Jones Act
- Resolution in Support of Deepening Euro-Atlantic Integration of the Republic of Moldova
- Act to Prohibit State Board of Regents from Investing Public University Trust Funds in Companies Associated with the Government of China
- Amendments to An Act to Prohibit State Contracts with Chinese Government-Owned or Affiliated Technology Manufacturers
- Resolution on Measures to Restore Federal Fiscal Responsibility in the Event of an Article V Amendments Convention
- Act to Ensure US Amendments Ratified by Article V State Conventions are a Vote of “We the People”
All Model Policies
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Resolution Supporting Taiwan’s Meaningful Participation in International Organizations Including the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and Interpol Draft
WHEREAS, Taiwan, with a population of 23.57 million has: a dynamic and growing economy that produces many of the items necessary for 21st century life, a strong innovation culture, the infrastructure to support cutting edge innovation in a variety of sectors and a longstanding reputation as a trusted global presence;…
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Resolution Calling on the Current Presidential Administration to Oppose Efforts to Undermine Global Intellectual Property Rights Draft
WHEREAS, in June 2022 the World Trade Organization (WTO) announced a waiver of the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement rules protecting the IP underpinning COVID-19 vaccines; and WHEREAS, this decision appears to have been politically motivated as many of the same countries demanding the TRIPS vaccine waiver…
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Resolution in Support of Repealing the Jones Act Draft
WHEREAS, Section 27 of the Merchant Marine Act of 1920 (P.L. 66-261) (46 U.S.C. § 55102), commonly known as the Jones Act, is a federal cabotage law that restricts the surface carriage of cargo by water between coastwise points in the United States to vessels that are U.S.-built, U.S.-flag, U.S.-owned and…
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Resolution in Support of Deepening Euro-Atlantic Integration of the Republic of Moldova Draft
WHEREAS U.S. assistance in Moldova works to strengthen democratic institutions, increase economic prosperity, secure the country’s recognized borders, and to assist Moldova to become a full partner in the European and international communities; and WHEREAS Moldova is a country with deep historical, cultural and economic links with the Member States…
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Act to Prohibit State Board of Regents from Investing Public University Trust Funds in Companies Associated with the Government of China Draft
POLICY This state legislative chamber enacts as follows: SECTION 1. Relevant sections of the statutes governing how the state’s Board of Regents of the state’s public university system will be amended to prohibit investment in Chinese owned and associated companies. SECTION 2. The Board of Regents may invest revenues from…
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Amendments to An Act to Prohibit State Contracts with Chinese Government-Owned or Affiliated Technology Manufacturers Draft
(1) Definitions (a) As used in this Code section, the term: (1) ‘Company’ means any sole proprietorship, organization, association, corporation, partnership, joint venture, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, limited liability company, or other entity or business association, including all wholly owned subsidiaries, majority owned subsidiaries, parent…