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PETITIONS AND MEMORIALS -- (Senate - July 17, 2000)

Resolved by the Senate of the Sixty-second General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein: 

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That the General Assembly of the State of Colorado hereby encourages the FCC not to preempt local government land use decision-making and state judicial processes, thus overriding local and state government authority; and be it further

   Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent to the President of the United States Senate; the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives; each member of Colorado's Congressional delegation; each member of the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade and Consumer Protection of the Committee on Commerce; the Governor of Colorado; and the Commissioners of the Federal Communications Commission. 

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   POM-562. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature of the State of Louisiana relative to Internet taxation; to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

   House Concurrent Resolution No. 9

   Whereas, the Internet is a collection of computer networks that enables people to communicate electronically with people in other states and nations around the world and millions of organizations and consumers are taking advantage of this technological innovation to transact electronic interstate commerce; and

   Whereas, business-to-consumer sales transacted through the Internet have increased the interstate commerce of items which have traditionally been sold in intrastate commerce, increasing competition between traditional ``main street'' family businesses and interstate mail order and electronic commerce businesses; and

   Whereas, under current federal court decisions, some Internet vendors and other remote sellers cannot be legally compelled to collect sales and use taxes from consumers in other states; and

   Whereas, the difficulties in requiring sales and use tax collections from remote sellers place local ``main street'' merchants at an unfair competitive disadvantage and the Internet and Internet vendors should not receive preferential tax treatment at the expense of such merchants; and

   Whereas, state sales and use tax collections comprise a substantial percentage of state revenues; and

   Whereas, states have the primary responsibility for the delivery of education, public safety, transportation, and health and human services; and

   Whereas, the projected growth of electronic commerce transactions will have a substantial negative impact on state sales and use tax collections; and

   Whereas, the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act has temporarily limited the states' ability to design new taxing schemes to keep up with today's rapidly transforming technology-drive economy; and

   Whereas, prior to the end of the moratorium period imposed by the Internet Tax Freedom Act, the United States Congress will be charged with the responsibility to decide the future course of taxation of the Internet, possibly to the detriment of state and local governments and traditional ``main street'' merchants: Therefore, be it

   Resolved, That the Louisiana Legislature does hereby memorialize the United States Congress to consider the needs of state and local governments and local ``main street'' retailers when determining a course of action regarding Internet taxation; be it further

   Resolved, That a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States of America and to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation. 

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   POM-563. A concurrent resolution adopted by the Legislature of the State of Louisiana relative to the Migratory Bird Treaty Act; to the Committee on Appropriations.

   House Concurrent Resolution No. 23

   Whereas, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1972 as amended (16 U.S.C. 701 et seq.) was enacted to protect and manage migratory birds in the United States and includes the regulation of taking, possessing, transporting, shipping, exporting, and importing of migratory birds; and

   Whereas, the enforcement of those laws and regulations is essential to the goal of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, enforcement which, in the state of Louisiana, is the responsibility of the enforcement division of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries; and

   Whereas, the hunting of migratory birds is a widespread recreational and tourist activity in the state of Louisiana with an economic impact in the state in excess of $131 million, including an annual harvest of over 3.5 million birds by more than 128,000 hunters participating in over 1.7 million hunting trips; and

   Whereas, with that level of activity in the state of Louisiana, the enforcement division of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is confronted with the monumental task of enforcement of the provisions of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, violations of which are estimated to have an annual negative impact on the state's economy of nearly $8.2 million; and

   Whereas, the enforcement division of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries has performed this responsibility through the years and, in fact, has issued more than eighty-nine percent of the citations issued for violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, all without the benefit of federal monetary support for its efforts: Therefore, be it

   Resolved, That the Louisiana Legislature does hereby memorialize the U.S. Congress to authorize and appropriate sufficient funds to the enforcement division of the Department of Wildlife and Fisheries to enable the enforcement of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and to enable efforts for conservation and protection of the migratory birds required by that Act; be it further

   Resolved, That a copy of this Resolution be forwarded to the presiding officers of the House of Representatives and the Senate of the U.S. Congress and to each member of the Louisiana congressional delegation. 

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   POM-564. A joint resolution adopted by the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Virginia relative to highway rest stops; to the Committee on Appropriations.

   House Joint Resolution No. 103

   Whereas, it is a well-established fact that driver fatigue is a major factor contributing to highway accidents; and

   Whereas, federal law prescribes limits on the number of continuous hours truckers may drive and the length of time they must rest before driving again; and

   Whereas, one of the most convenient places where long-haul truckers could break their trip and get the rest they need to operate safely is rest stops along interstate highways; and

   Whereas, this option is not realistically open to truckers, because the Commonwealth limits vehicle stays at these rest stops to no more than two hours; and

   Whereas, the cost of motel rooms and the inability of many motel parking lots to accommodate large tractor-trailer combinations make use of motels an impractical option for truckers seeking to get their required rest as prescribed by federal law; and

   Whereas, construction of additional interstate highway rest stops and expansion of existing facilities would enable truckers to comply with federal hours-of-service requirements safely and inexpensively, resulting in fewer highway accidents and improved safety for the motoring public: Now, therefore, be it

   Resolved by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the Congress of the United States be urged to provide federal funding for expansion of certain highway rest stops and for construction of additional interstate highway rest stops and, be it

   Resolved further, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates transmit copies of this resolution to the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the President of the United States Senate, and the members of the Virginia Congressional Delegation in order that they may be apprised of the sense of the General Assembly of Virginia in this matter. 

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   POM-565. A joint resolution adopted by the Legislature of the State of California relative to hemophilia relief; to the Committee on Appropriations.

   Assembly Joint Resolution No. 55

   Whereas, The Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1998 (P.L. 105-369) was enacted by Congress to provide for compassionate payments to individuals with blood-clotting disorders, such as hemophilia, who contracted the human immunodeficiency virus due to contaminated blood products; and

   Whereas, In its review of the events surrounding the HIV infection of thousands of people with blood-clotting disorders, such as hemophilia, a 1995 study, entitled ``HIV and the Blood Supply,'' of the Institute of Medicine found a failure of leadership and an inadequate institutional decisionmaking process in the system responsible for ensuring blood safety, concluding that a failure of leadership led to less than effective donor screening, weak regulatory actions, and insufficient communication to patients about the risk of AIDS; and

   Whereas, It is important for both the federal and state government to halt immediately the funding of a product or program if they become aware of a risk of infection when using the product and have not informed the public; and

   Whereas, This legislation, named after a teenage hemophiliac who died from AIDS, was enacted to provide financial relief to the families of hemophiliacs who were devastated by the federal government's policy failure in its handling of the AIDS epidemic; and

   Whereas, Although the relief bill has been enacted into law, Congress has been reluctant to fund it: Now, therefore, be it

   Resolved by the Assembly and Senate of the State of California, jointly, That the Legislature of the State of California respectfully memorializes the President and the Congress of the United States to fully fund the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund, enacted into law under the Ricky Ray Hemophilia Relief Fund Act of 1998, so that there is no delay between the authorization and the timely appropriation of this relief; and be it further

   Resolved, That the President and the Congress of the United States are respectfully urged to withhold the appropriation of funds to programs that have not clearly disclosed to the consumer the risks of infection for a product the program manufactures or distributes; and be it further

   Resolved, That the Chief Clerk of the Assembly transmit copies of this resolution to the President and Vice President of the United States, to the Speaker of the House 

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of Representatives, and to each Senator and Representative from California in the Congress of the United States. 
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