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.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘States and Local Leg-
islative Prerogatives Preservation Act of 1993’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds that—
(1) the United States Constitution created a
strong Federal system, reserving to the States all
powers not expressly delegated to the Federal Gov-
ernment;
(2) on numerous occasions, the Congress has
enacted statutes that explicitly preempt State and
local government powers and describe the scope of
the preemption;
(3) in addition to statutes that explicitly pre-
empt State and local government powers, many
other statutes that lack an explicit statement by
Congress of its intent to preempt and a clear de-
scription of the scope of the preemption have been
construed by the courts and Federal agencies to pre-
empt State and local government powers; and
(4) without an explicit statement of Congress’
intent to preempt State and local government pow-
ers and a clear description of the scope of preemp-
tion, preemptive statutes—
(A) provide too little guidance and leave
too much discretion to Federal agencies which
are required to promulgate and enforce regula-
tions pursuant to statutes;
(B) create too great an uncertainty for
State and local governments; and
(C) leave the presence or scope of preemp-
tion to be litigated and determined by the Fed-
eral judiciary, producing results sometimes
contrary to or beyond the intent of Congress.
SEC. 3. PURPOSE.
The purposes of this Act are to—
(1) promote and preserve the integrity and ef-
fectiveness of the Federal system;
(2) set forth principles governing the interpre-
tation of congressional intent regarding preemption
of State and local government powers by Federal
laws and regulations; and
(3) establish an information collection system
designed to monitor the incidence of Federal statu-
tory and regulatory preemption.
SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.
As used in this Act, the term—
(1) ‘‘local government’’ means a county, city,
town, borough, township, village, school district, spe-
cial district, or other political subdivision of a State;
(2) ‘‘State’’ means a State of the United States
and an agency or instrumentality of a State, but
does not include a local government of a State; and
(3) ‘‘State and local government powers’’ means
powers reserved under the ninth and tenth amend-
ments of the United States Constitution to States or
delegated to local governments by States.
SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.
No statute, or rule promulgated under such statute,
shall preempt, in whole or in part, any State or local gov-
ernment law, ordinance, or regulation, unless the statute
explicitly states that such preemption is intended or unless
there is a direct conflict between such statute and a State
or local law, ordinance, or regulation so the two cannot
be reconciled or consistently stand together.
SEC. 6. ANNUAL REPORT ON STATUTORY PREEMPTION.
(a) REPORT.—Within 90 days after each Congress
adjourns sine die, the Congressional Research Service
shall prepare and make available to the public a report
on the extent of Federal statutory preemption of State and
local government powers enacted into law during the pre-
ceding Congress or adopted through judicial interpretation
of Federal statutes.
(b) CONTENTS.—The report shall contain—
(1) a cumulative list of the Federal statutes
preempting, in whole or in part, State and local gov-
ernment powers;
(2) a summary of Federal legislation enacted
during the previous Congress preempting, in whole
or in part, State and local government powers;
(3) an overview of recent court cases addressing
Federal preemption issues; and
(4) other information the Director of the Con-
gressional Research Service determines appropriate.
(c) TRANSMITTAL.—Copies of the report shall be sent
to the President and the chairman of the appropriate com-
mittees in the Senate and House of Representatives.
SEC. 7. EFFECTIVE DATE.
This Act shall take effect on January 1, 1995. The
requirements of section 5 shall apply only to statutes en-
acted or final regulations which become effective on or
after January 1, 1993.
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