I

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 2327

To clarify the application of Federal preemption of State and local laws,

to preserve State and local legislative rights and prerogatives, and for

other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MAY 27, 1993

Mr. THOMAS of Wyoming (for himself, Mr. KIM, Mr. GORDON, Mr. HYDE, Mr.

BOEHNER, Mr. EWING, Mr. WALSH, Mr. HANCOCK, Mr. LEVY, Mr.

SCHIFF, Mr. TAYLOR of North Carolina, and Mr. EVERETT) introduced

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Government

Operations

A BILL

To clarify the application of Federal preemption of State

and local laws, to preserve State and local legislative

rights and prerogatives, and for other purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘States and Local Leg5 islative Prerogatives Preservation Act of 1993’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds that—
2

•HR 2327 IH

1 (1) the United States Constitution created a

2 strong Federal system, reserving to the States all

3 powers not expressly delegated to the Federal Gov4 ernment;

5 (2) on numerous occasions, the Congress has

6 enacted statutes that explicitly preempt State and

7 local government powers and describe the scope of

8 the preemption;

9 (3) in addition to statutes that explicitly pre10 empt State and local government powers, many

11 other statutes that lack an explicit statement by

12 Congress of its intent to preempt and a clear de13 scription of the scope of the preemption have been

14 construed by the courts and Federal agencies to pre15 empt State and local government powers; and

16 (4) without an explicit statement of Congress’

17 intent to preempt State and local government pow18 ers and a clear description of the scope of preemp19 tion, preemptive statutes—

20 (A) provide too little guidance and leave

21 too much discretion to Federal agencies which

22 are required to promulgate and enforce regula23 tions pursuant to statutes;

24 (B) create too great an uncertainty for

25 State and local governments; and
3

•HR 2327 IH

1 (C) leave the presence or scope of preemp2 tion to be litigated and determined by the Fed3 eral judiciary, producing results sometimes

4 contrary to or beyond the intent of Congress.

5 SEC. 3. PURPOSE.

6 The purposes of this Act are to—

7 (1) promote and preserve the integrity and ef8 fectiveness of the Federal system;

9 (2) set forth principles governing the interpre10 tation of congressional intent regarding preemption

11 of State and local government powers by Federal

12 laws and regulations; and

13 (3) establish an information collection system

14 designed to monitor the incidence of Federal statu15 tory and regulatory preemption.

16 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

17 As used in this Act, the term—

18 (1) ‘‘local government’’ means a county, city,

19 town, borough, township, village, school district, spe20 cial district, or other political subdivision of a State;

21 (2) ‘‘State’’ means a State of the United States

22 and an agency or instrumentality of a State, but

23 does not include a local government of a State; and

24 (3) ‘‘State and local government powers’’ means

25 powers reserved under the ninth and tenth amend-
4

•HR 2327 IH

1 ments of the United States Constitution to States or

2 delegated to local governments by States.

3 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

4 No statute, or rule promulgated under such statute,

5 shall preempt, in whole or in part, any State or local gov6 ernment law, ordinance, or regulation, unless the statute

7 explicitly states that such preemption is intended or unless

8 there is a direct conflict between such statute and a State

9 or local law, ordinance, or regulation so the two cannot

10 be reconciled or consistently stand together.

11 SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT ON STATUTORY PREEMPTION.

12 (a) REPORT.—Within 90 days after each Congress

13 adjourns sine die, the Congressional Research Service

14 shall prepare and make available to the public a report

15 on the extent of Federal statutory preemption of State and

16 local government powers enacted into law during the pre17 ceding Congress or adopted through judicial interpretation

18 of Federal statutes.

19 (b) CONTENTS.—The report shall contain—

20 (1) a cumulative list of the Federal statutes

21 preempting, in whole or in part, State and local gov22 ernment powers;

23 (2) a summary of Federal legislation enacted

24 during the previous Congress preempting, in whole

25 or in part, State and local government powers;
5

•HR 2327 IH

1 (3) an overview of recent court cases addressing

2 Federal preemption issues; and

3 (4) other information the Director of the Con4 gressional Research Service determines appropriate.

5 (c) TRANSMITTAL.—Copies of the report shall be sent

6 to the President and the chairman of the appropriate com7 mittees in the Senate and House of Representatives.

8 SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.

9 This Act shall take effect on January 1, 1995. The

10 requirements of section 5 shall apply only to statutes en11 acted or final regulations which become effective on or

12 after January 1, 1993.

Æ