First Regular Session

Sixty-second General Assembly

LLS NO. R99­0932.01 Bob Lackner

STATE OF COLORADO

BY SENATOR Wattenberg;

also REPRESENTATIVE Young.

SENATE JOINT RESOLUTION 99-047

CONCERNING THE REESTABLISHMENT OF ECONOMIC PARITY.

WHEREAS, On March 8, 1933, in response to a nationwide economic depression, then­Governor Edwin C. Johnson of Colorado along with the governors of all the other states in the union simultaneously declared their respective states to be in a state of emergency, jointly urged the United States Congress to declare a corresponding state of national emergency, pursuant to which broad emergency powers would be delegated to the President, and pledged their wholehearted support of, and cooperation with, the President of the United States in his use of these broad powers to address the national emergency; and

WHEREAS, On March 9, 1933, in response to this request from the respective state governments, the U.S. Congress declared a state of national emergency and delegated to the President broad powers over all aspects of the nation's finances; and

WHEREAS, On May 12, 1933, the U.S. Congress also declared a state of national emergency with respect to the agricultural sector of the economy and delegated to the President broad emergency powers to control the production, pricing, marketing, and distribution of agricultural commodities; and

WHEREAS, As an integral part of the powers delegated to him concerning agriculture, on May 12, 1933, the U.S. Congress further required the President to establish and maintain parity or an economic balance of power for family farms and consumers until such time as the President should terminate the state of national emergency; and

WHEREAS, In the legislation passed on May 12, 1933, the U.S. Congress further delegated broad emergency powers to the President to regulate the value of domestic and foreign currencies to prevent the devaluation of foreign currency relative to the American dollar; and

WHEREAS, On June 12, 1934, the U.S. Congress further delegated to the President broad emergency powers to enter into foreign trade agreements for the benefit of American agriculture, labor, and industry; and

WHEREAS, The state of national emergency declared by the federal government, and the accompanying powers delegated to the President, have never been terminated and, therefore, remain in full force and effect; and

WHEREAS, The current administration, as well as some previous administrations, have preceded it, have not accomplished in an effective manner the original mandates and purposes of the federal legislation referenced in this Joint Resolution, which failure has, in part, created a severe and increasing disparity between the prices received by farmers for agricultural goods and the prices paid by them for industrial goods; and

WHEREAS, Consumers continue to pay more for agricultural products while farmers contemporaneously receive less for the same; and

WHEREAS, This disparity has created an agricultural crisis for the agricultural producers of Colorado; now, therefore,

Be It Resolved by the Senate of the Sixty­second General Assembly of the State of Colorado, the House of Representatives concurring herein:

That the General Assembly requests the President of the United States to exercise the broad emergency powers previously delegated to the President to reestablish, restore, and maintain economic parity consistent with the federal legislation referenced in this Joint Resolution.

Be It Further Resolved, That copies of this Joint Resolution be sent to the President of the United States, the Secretary of the United States Department of Agriculture, and each member of Colorado's delegation to the United States Congress.