Enter the 10th Amendment of the Bill of Rights , which reads: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”But what exactly do these state powers entail? And why has the 10th Amendment become such a relevant topic of conversation in recent months?Radio host Tammy Bruce sums up the meaning of the 10th Amendment : “the Federal Government is only allowed to exercise powers that have been explicitly yielded to it in the Constitution. That's the law.”In response to what they see as encroaching big government, particularly the strings attached to the federal stimulus bill, several states are moving forward with 10th Amendment-based resolutions. Many states are concerned about “demands from Washington on how to spend money or enact policy,” reported The Washington Times.These states are primarily questioning whether the federal government “ can force states to take actions without paying for them or impose conditions on states if they accept certain federal funding,” The Times reported.Rep. Judy Burges of Arizona is leading efforts there to pass a 10th Amendment resolution, and told The Washington Times, “We are telling the federal government that we are a sovereign state and want to be treated as such. We are not a branch of the federal government.”