IX.  AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITY[1]

A.  Federal

1.  Federal law will define procedures whereby with the consent of the majority of citizens thereof: territories may become states, two or more states may combine into one, and one state may divide into two or more states.

2.  The federal government will have jurisdiction on properties of the federal government and, as defined by agreements, share jurisdiction with other nations and international organizations.

3.  The federal government will have jurisdiction on coastal waters defined as territorial by international law and on inland waters that touch more than one state or another nation.

4.  The federal government will assume the general responsibilities and authority of the states in the territories.  Federal laws will define the authority and responsibilities of local governmental units in the territories.

5.  The federal government will make laws necessary and proper in order to:

1. Raise and maintain armed services and make rules for the regulation thereof.
   
2. Conduct relations with other nations and international organizations.
   
3. Regulate immigration from other nations.
   
4. Suppress international and interstate crime.
   
5. Test products intended for people to ingest, inhale, or apply to their bodies and publish the results.
   
6. Operate or license all facilities for the usage, transportation, and waste disposal of radioactive materials.
   
7. Assist states and local governments in the event of natural or man-made disaster.
   
   

1. Print currency, stamp coins, and create other media of exchange.
   
2. Borrow funds on the credit of the United States.
3. Establish an independent central bank that manages the money supply and interest rates.
4. Insure the safety of funds under the control of financial institutions and in transit.
5. Regulate all aspects of the creation and sale of financial securities.
6. Regulate businesses, associations, and eleemosynary organizations with interstate operations.
7. Define the rights and obligations of employers and employees and set a minimum wage in organizations with interstate operations.
8. Protect the public from the exercise of monopoly and monopsony power.
9. Grant patents, copyrights, and trademarks that balance the benefits to the public of innovation and creation with the rights of authors, inventors, scientists, and artists to profit from their work.
10. Establish standard weights and measures that conform to the international metric system.
11. Sponsor standards for the safety and interoperability of products.
12. Establish or license and operate or regulate all technical facilities for domestic and international communication.
13. Establish or license and operate or regulate all facilities for interstate and international movement of persons and property.
14. Regulate extractive industries and ocean fisheries and salvage.
15. Set standards of agricultural practice.
16. Stabilize, but not to subsidize, the market prices of farm commodities, energy, and minerals; and to maintain permanent inventories thereof only to meet the requirements of national security.

7.  The federal government may define and finance projects in the arts, cultural activities, basic and applied science, and the social sciences; but will not regulate projects that are privately funded.

B. State [3]

1.  States have primary authority and responsibility in matters which are specifically assigned herein and which are not reserved to the federal government.

2.  Each state will have its own Constitution that defines its organization and how the responsibilities and authority of the state are delegated to local governmental units.

3.  States and local governments will obtain revenue, disburse funds against obligations, issue and redeem bonds, and employ persons and define conditions of their employment.

4.  Retirement benefits for the employees of states and local governments shall be fully funded on an actuarial basis.

5.  States may make pacts with other states.

6.  States may petition the federal government concerning international relations but will make no law referring to the citizens, products, or the conduct of other nations or international institutions.

7.  States will make laws necessary and proper in order to:

1. Maintain public order, safety, and sanitation.
2. Define family relationships and responsibilities.
3. Care for the indigent, insane, incompetent.
4. Care for orphaned or abandoned children.
5. Make and enforce plans for the utilization of land and supplies of fresh water.
6. Issue permits for the operation of vehicles and machinery.
7. License professional persons and artisans.
8. Regulate businesses, associations, and eleemosynary organizations without interstate operations.
9. Define the rights and obligations of employers and employees and set a minimum wage in organizations without interstate operations.
10. Create and maintain facilities for public recreation and entertainment.
11. Promote and subsidize cultural activities.
12. Maintain a system of higher education
13. Establish and operate or regulate intrastate infrastructure.

8.  Every minor, past infancy and under age 19, permanently or temporarily resident, citizen or not, is entitled to an education suited to his or her age and capacity to learn.   States will:

1. Without charging fees, operate a public school system.
2. Set standards for schools that charge fees, religious schools, and for parents who educate their children at home. 
3. Provide access to public educational services on the basis of cost reimbursement to those who do not attend the public schools system.
4. Set standards of educational achievement by age group.
5. Without charging fees, operate or license facilities for those who are unable to attend public schools by reason of physical, emotional, or intellectual handicap.

C. Joint Federal and State

1.  In matters when the primary responsibility rests with the states, the federal government will assist a state only upon request and will not impose specific financial burdens on state or local government without specific consent or compensation.

2.  Notwithstanding the division of responsibilities between the federal and state governments as defined herein, the federal government may measure state-wide social and economic levels and publish comparative analyses. 

3.  All citizens resident in the United States[4]  are entitled to a minimum standard of living.

1. Federal law will define standards of support and the division of responsibility between federal and state governments.
2. The federal government will disburse funds in amounts depending on local prices directly to citizens who are employed at low wages, or unemployed and seeking work, or past working age.
3. The federal government will disburse funds to the states on behalf of citizens who are disabled, incompetent, or otherwise unable to support themselves.
4. States will use all the funds received from the federal government exclusively for life maintenance services and may choose to augment the federal funds.
5. States may disburse funds or provide support in kind and may impose restrictions or obligations on recipients subject to the federal standards.

4.  All persons present in the United States[5] are entitled to a basic level of health care. 

1. The federal government will cooperate with the states, other nations, and international organizations in measures to control epidemics and to raise the general level of public health.
2. The federal government will test medical devices and diagnostic equipment.
3. The federal government will disburse funds to the states in amounts based on population by age and sex and on relative wage levels in order to finance the delivery of health care. 
4. States will provide health care to all persons without regard to permanent residence or citizenship.
5. States will use all the funds received from the federal government exclusively for health services and may choose to augment the federal funds.
6. States will establish an ethics panel that will define procedures, drugs, and devices that are permitted and prohibited under local standards. 
7. States will license and monitor health care providers and facilities.
8. States will set reimbursements for services, drugs, and devices that are appropriate to the wage levels in local areas within a state.
9. States will act as a single payer disbursing funds to health care providers for services rendered.
10. States will establish special facilities to arbitrate disputes among patients and consumers, health care providers, and state and private administrators.
11. States will regulate, but not prohibit, the private purchase of health care services.

5.  The federal government will regulate the importation and interstate distribution of devices and materials designed to inflict bodily harm[6] and of substances that create dependency.  States will regulate the intrastate distribution, possession, use, and misuse of these devices and materials and of these substances[7].

6.  The federal government will set minimum national standards for the maintenance of the physical and biological environment.  Adhering at least to these minimum federal standards, states will make laws necessary and proper in order to protect the environment and to ensure that food and water are fit for human consumption.