The state of Kansas joined with 17 other states to invoke the 10th amendment, declaring their sovereignty over the stipulations included in President Obama’s recent spending bill.
The Kansas Senate is considering Senate Concurrent Resolution 1609.
“It’s like any resolution,” said Sen. Ty Masterson. “It’s just like a formal statement.”
The bill came about after more controls continue to be issued by the federal government.
“There’s an increased feeling over the way the federal government has tried to control states through money,” Masterson said.
“It seems for years now the stipulations on any federal money create requirements the state has to do in order to get the federal dollars. This recovery act is a good example of that.”
He gave the example that in order to get Medicaid dollars, the state has to ensure the same level of spending in the future.
“It’s like me telling you I’m going to increase the limit on your credit card, but you have to keep spending more than you take in,” Masterson said.
Many of the funds have a maintenance of effort requirement in them, which states these stipulations.
While the resolution won’t have any effect on the current round of stimulus money, Masterson said this resolution is a way of saying they need to get back to the constitution.
Kansas has joined Tennessee, Kentucky, Indiana, West Virginia, Washington, New Hampshire, Arizona, Montana, Michigan, Missouri, Oklahoma, Minnesota, Georgia, South Carolina and Texas in what has come to be known as the “10th Amendment movement” – a grassroots movement seeking to defend the separation of powers.
