Sunset Legislation

Burlington High School

Burlington, Kansas

Teacher: Devra Parker

The Silver Lining of a Sunset

By Katie Guevel

12^th grade

The year is 2020, and my family and I are about to sit down to dinner. I look across the table at my husband; he is bone-tired from working long shifts as a security guard to pay our bills. He has a degree in engineering, but he has had few opportunities to break into the field. The Mexican-American population has skyrocketed in the past ten years, and since he is a Caucasian male, his chances of advancement within his company have been sparse. Of course, this scenario may be extreme, but it is certainly not impossible. This is an example of a government program that could one day become outdated in the near future: Affirmative Action. Many laws and programs will one day become unnecessary if they have not already done so. This is where Sunset Legislation comes into play. The premise behind sunset clauses in our nation’s laws is to terminate or repeal portions of or an entire law. The only way that the law will be kept is if legislative action is taken to extend the law’s life. Putting an expiration date on some bills of Congress could greatly benefit the United States as a whole.

Sunset Legislation is not a new idea by any stretch of the imagination. As early as 1789, Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to James Madison outlining the idea of independent generations. Jefferson said that an older society imposing its debt upon the younger society goes against the very laws of nature which the country was founded upon. However, Jefferson did not know at the time that he had, in part, already established a precedent in opposition to his letter. By engaging in the Revolutionary War and borrowing large sums of money from foreign nations, Jefferson and the Second Continental Congress had already left a large debt to their descendants. Although his hypocrisy may prove sunset legislation to be ineffective in reference to national debt, this radical proposition could potentially have kept our nation out of the Grand Canyon-sized debt hole in which we now find ourselves buried. However, if the United States had not spent the amount of money that it did on national defense, we might not have risen to the world superpower that we are today.

In today’s America, the purpose of sunset laws has taken an interesting turn. Congressman Kevin Brady is the sponsor of H.R. 1227, a bill that would establish sunset dates for government agencies (like the Central Intelligence Agency) and programs (like Affirmative Action.) These expiration dates would allow Congress more control over such entities so that they do not become more powerful than the central government outlined by the Constitution. For example, in 2005 the New York Times ran a story regarding the practices of the National Security Agency (NSA), a component of the Department of Defense. The article purported that President Bush ordered warrantless wire taps on American citizens making phone calls to foreign nations. Many Americans, including myself, believe that this was a misuse of the NSA’s authority. If Congress were to have established a sunset clause during the creation of the NSA itself, Congress would have a check over these government agencies, which would maintain the proven American system of checks and balances.

Despite the obvious benefits of sunset legislation, there have been past instances when this premise has been used immorally and irresponsibly. In 1798, the Alien and Sedition Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President John Adams. The bill allowed the government to deport or imprison those who questioned his administration or his political party. However, the bill contained a sunset clause, which terminated the law after Adams’ term ended. Thus, his political opponents were not able to use the same law against Adams or his party. In 1983, the state of West Virginia decided to pass sunset legislation providing for the termination of all state government. Fortunately, their antics were nullified by the governor’s veto. It would have been rather difficult for the legislative body to audit its own purpose and necessity.

Finally, I believe one of the most harrowing topics to address for public officials is a budget. Constituents are always asking candidates about plans to improve the budget, both at the state and local levels. The state of Texas is a marvelous example of sunset legislation’s ability to “trim the fat” off of government agencies to turn them into lean, mean citizen-serving machines. The state has, thus far, eliminated 52 unnecessary organizations and saved taxpayers a staggering $784 million. In our country’s current debt situation, every penny saved due to the sunset process would be another penny that could go towards paying back the national debt.

Thus, if sunset clauses were inserted into the charters of government agencies and introduced into our laws, our country would save money and increase its productivity. As Congressman Kevin Brady says, “Federal agencies that outlive their usefulness or refuse to spend tax dollars efficiently are a burden on the American taxpayer and must be eliminated.” It is time for the legislative branch of our central government to take back its power and resume its authority over agencies such as the FBI, CIA, and other autonomous entities. The American taxpayer must demand to know that his or her money is being spent in the most resourceful manner possible. Sunset legislation can meet just such an order.

Answers To Questions Prompted By The Required Reading

Q1- What was the average life span in Jefferson’s age according to his letter?

According to his letter, Jefferson believed that the average life span of his time was 55 years.

Q2- Do some research and find out the size of the national debt you are about to inherit as taxpayers. Don’t forget the benefits promised in your name to the older generations under the guise of Social Security and Medicare.

As of 11 A.M. (central time) on October 18, 2006, the national debt stood at a staggering $8,540,271,464,441.18. Although a substantial amount of money is owed to China and Japan, much of this is due to government pension plans, as well as Social Security. Social Security pays money to U.S. citizens suffering from old age, deceased family providers, and disability. However, at this time, much of the savings put aside for Social Security is being used in other departments of the government. That is to say that the treasury in charge of the program is essentially empty. Most Social Security checks are being paid by the Social Security tax charged to working Americans who are not part of the program. In the current situation, my generation will inherit the rapidly growing debt, which the nation can only pay the interest on at this time. Also, currently no money is being saved to pay for my Social Security.

Q3-What do you think of Jefferson’s assertion that “…no generation can contract debts greater than may be paid during the course of it's own existence.”

In theory, it would make sense. The fact that older generations are acquiring debt, only to leave it for their descendants, is quite unfair. However, in the modern age, limiting the federal budget in such a way would make the dominance of the United States in warfare impossible. Our country is not always a popular one, and if attacked on multiple fronts, we need to be able to defend ourselves.

Is it feasible to undue the social contracts in your children or grandchildren’s life times? Would you want to even if you could? Why or why not.

I don’t believe Social Security can ever be abolished because all taxpayers know that they money they are paying into the program is not being saved for them. It is being used to pay for the current Social Security dependents and in other government programs. They deserve to be repaid their money and the only way to do that is to cut the budget or tax the younger, working population.

Q4- Do you agree, as Jefferson maintained, that “[debt] between society and society, or generation and generation, there is no municipal obligation, no umpire but the law of nature. We seem not to have perceived that, by the law of nature, one generation is to another as one independent nation to another.”

No, I disagree with Mr. Jefferson because generations do not come in the type of waves that he described in his letter. The population is continually changing, and our government officials will not all be the same age and generation. Also, as the older generation dies, its ideals and values will die with it. Eventually, any law that the new generation disagrees with will be terminated.

Q5- In view of Jefferson’s words that follow, why do you think a sunset provision on generational debt wasn’t included in the U.S. Constitution?

“But with respect to future debts, would it not be wise and just for that nation to declare, in the constitution they are forming, that neither the legislature, nor the nation itself, can validly contract more debt than they may pay within their own age, or within the term of 19. years? And that all future contracts will be deemed void as to what shall remain unpaid at the end of 19. years from their date? This would put the lenders, and the borrowers also, on their guard.”

The United States were forced to borrow a large amount of money from foreign nations to fight the Revolutionary War. It would have been impossible for the Founding Fathers to repay the war debt in their lifetime. Putting such a clause in the Constitution would have made them hypocrites.

Q6- What do you say to Jefferson’s assertion that “a law of limited duration is much more manageable than one which needs a repeal.” ?

If a law is created with the intention that it may be terminated, it would be much easier to abolish it if it became unnecessary than if the law was made to believe that it would last forever.

Q7- “We have already given in example one effectual check to the Dog of war by transferring the power of letting him loose from the Executive to the Legislative body, from those who are to spend to those who are to pay.”

I believe this phrase is about putting the power to declare war in the hands of those who would be in charge of taxing the people: Congress. The representatives and senators are the ones who are in charge of representing the largest portion of the population, not the President.

Q8- In light of the excerpt from his letter above, what do you think Thomas Jefferson would make of our nation’s recent history of fighting undeclared wars?

It is putting the power to wage war in the hands of the President’s hands. Mr. Jefferson would reprimand Congress for being pushed around by the Executive Branch. Our legislature creates bills to raise revenue; therefore, they would have to answer to their constituents.

Q9- Name ten of the twenty-six states that have enacted sunset legislation.

1) Colorado 2) Texas 3) Arkansas 4) Tennessee 5) Alabama

6) Alaska 7) Arizona 8) Louisiana 9) Maine 10) Ohio

Q10- What state abolished all state government? What do you think the voters got for their trouble?

West Virginia’s legislature adopted a bill to abolish all government. The governor vetoed the bill. I am sure the representatives who voted for this bill may have been punished by their constituents in the next election.

Q11- What good do attempts at enacting Sunset legislation achieve even when the laws are not enacted?

The agencies are forced to take criticism to improve their function. It guarantees that the agencies (FBI, CIA, etc.) do not become more powerful than the legislature.