Throughout the history of the United States, the debate between states’ rights and federal power has been a long standing issue. From Federalists and Democratic-Republicans to present day Democrats and Republicans, political parties are constantly arguing over the extent the federal government has over state governance. This debate was made more prominent due to Utah signing a new bill into law, this law being the Sovereignty Act. Let’s delve into what the new bill entails.

A Law Like This Isn’t New

As mentioned, the debate over the extent to which the federal government could interfere with state authority has been an issue since the birth of this country. Think back to the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions in 1798, which declared the Alien and Sedition Acts unconstitutional and posited that states should have the right to judge the constitutionality of federal laws (this was before the Supreme Court was given judicial review). Or recall the Nullification Crisis of 1832-1833, where South Carolina asserted that states had the right to void laws they deemed unconstitutional. Needless to say, this law is representative of a traditional facet of American politics.

What the Law States

The bill is broken up into three different sections. Section one provides the definition of the terms used throughout the bill. Section two states the instances when the bill is invoked.

Under the Utah Constitutional Sovereignty Act, “the Legislature may, by concurrent resolution, prohibit a government officer from enforcing or assisting in the enforcement of a federal directive within the state if the Legislature determines the federal directive violates the principles of state sovereignty in accordance with Subsection 2.”

And what is Subsection 2? It asserts that a federal decision violates Utah’s sovereignty if said decision infringes upon the rights reserved by states under the Tenth Amendment or interferes with the state’s decision to provide for the welfare and safety of its denizens. 

Section three of the bill states that it will take effect once a supermajority in the state of Utah is reached – which it did. In the House and Senate (yes, state legislatures are bicameral), the bill passed with a 57-14 vote and a 24-5 vote respectively. 

Is It Constitutional Though?

The rationale behind the supporting side ultimately boils down to “yes because we need to balance states’ and federal power”. However, this law conflicts with the Supremacy Clause of the US Constitution, which states that federal laws generally take priority over state laws. Previous historical precedents were met with varying degrees of success. Only time and court cases will tell. 

The Purpose and Effect

Given the current state of the political landscape of America, this new law is yet another pushback against the “overreach” of federal power. Just a couple of states over, for instance, Texas is engaged in a battle with the federal government’s control over security at the US-Mexico border.

Currently, this law may pose a challenge to state employees. With the constitutionality still ambiguous, there might arise situations where an action may go against the federal law while inaction may go against state law.