LANSING, Mich. — Sen. Jonathan Lindsey sponsored a legislative effort titled the Unratified Treaties Implementation Prohibition Act (UTIPA) to solidify Michigan’s rights as a sovereign state and protect the state from federal and international overreach.
Lindsey’s legislation would reinforce an existing federal constitutional requirement, found in Article II, Section 2, Clause 2, stating that “[the President] shall have the power, by and with advice and consent of the Senate, to make treaties, provided two-thirds of the senators present concur…”
“This is an important step to prevent unconstitutional federal and international overreach into state affairs,” said Lindsey, R-Allen. “Organizations like the World Health Organization have made clear their intent, through an international treaty framework likely to be adopted in the coming year, to use the pandemic response as a pretext for an international takeover of national and state-level policymaking. Their effort, supported by the World Economic Forum, would create a ‘legally binding agreement’ that, if not properly adopted, would usurp federal, state, and local policymaking authority.”
If passed and signed into law, UTIPA would ensure that no international agreement would be legally enforced in Michigan unless a supermajority of the U.S. Senate voted for it. This would prohibit the implementation of illegal treaties in Michigan and create a meaningful penalty against anyone who violates the law by attempting such implementation.
Lindsey also thanked the bill’s co-sponsors — Sens. Jim Runestad, R-White Lake, Kevin Daley, R-Lum, Ed McBroom, R-Waucedah Township, and Roger Hauck, R-Mt. Pleasant, — for their efforts toward getting this legislation introduced.
“I urge all members of the Michigan Senate to join this effort to defend our Constitution, and I look forward to seeing similar legislation advanced in the Michigan House of Representatives as well,” Lindsey said.
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