Virginia’s House of Delegates voted overwhelmingly in favor of another pro-federalism measure on Monday. By a count of 65-33, the House passed HR46, the State Sovereignty Resolution.

Its summary as introduced:

Expresses the sense of the House of Delegates that the Congress of the United States be urged to honor state sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and claims sovereignty for the Commonwealth under the Tenth Amendment over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.

This is the legislature’s way of politely telling the federal government to butt out of issues that are not under its constitutional purview. Unfortunately, it is also largely symbolic.

In order to enforce the constitutional limitations on federal power, it takes more than pretty words and symbolic resolutions. It takes politicians who are willing to risk upsetting Washington, D.C., and their own constituents, by saying no to federal bribe money.

Those politicians remain rare at all levels of government, but it is encouraging to note that last week Virginia’s House also passed another, much more serious, challenge to unconstitutional federal power grabs: HB1438, the Intrastate Commerce Act.

HB1438 is an expansion of last year’s Firearms Freedom Act (which also passed the House of Delegates before being killed in the state Senate). The language of the Firearms Freedom Act was specifically intended to challenge the Supreme Court’s utterly fraudulent interpretation of the Interstate Commerce Clause, as exemplified in cases like Wickard v. Filburn and Gonzales v. Raich.

However, rather than focus solely on guns and ammo, HB1438 goes even further to state that any item produced and sold exclusively within Virginia is exempt from federal regulation. The House of Delegates passed that measure last week by a vote of 65-33, but it is now also widely expected to die quickly in the Senate.

For such an important bill to pass the House and yet fail to become law for the second year in a row is totally unacceptable. If Virginia’s political leadership is willing to leave her citizens at the mercy of growing federal authoritarianism, then that leadership must be replaced.

Thankfully, an election this November will see all 140 members of Virginia’s General Assembly face the voters. If ever there was a time for pro-liberty candidates to step forward and challenge the statists in our government, particularly those in the Senate, that time is now.

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CLICK HERE to view the Tenth Amendment Center’s 10th amendment resolution tracking page

CLICK HERE to view the Tenth Amendment Center’s model 10th Amendment Resolution, which you can send to your representatives when urging them to introduce one in your state.

CLICK HERE to track follow up actions on various issues around the country.

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