OConnor

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OConnor Sabato, Chapter 3

• Presentation 3.3 Modern Federalism

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Key Topics

• Modern Federalism (1933-1954)
• Creative Federalism (1954-1979)
• New Federalism the Devolution Revolution
  (1980-??)
• Policy in Action Setting a National Alcohol
  Policy
• Federalism and the Supreme Court

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Modern Federalism

• From layer-cake to marble-cake federalism
• Federal government increasingly participates in
  activities traditionally viewed as state/local
  matters
• Fed. govt. reliance on incentives to influence
  state/local govts.

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1a) The Rise of Federal Grant Programs

• Programs where the federal govt. redistributed
  money to the states for specific purposes
• Morrill Land Grant Act (1862)
• Gave each state 30,000 acres of public land per
  congressional representative
• Income from sale of land designated for the
  creation of agricultural mechanical arts
  colleges

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1b) The New Deal

• Accelerated the redistribution of federal funds
  to the states
• Money (with strings attached)
• National govt. imposed goals attached
  conditions
• By 1945, federal grant programs were a central
  part of national policy
• The relationship was largely cooperative until
  the early 1960s

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1c) Categorical Grants

• Congress appropriates federal tax dollars for a
  specific purpose
• Allocate funds based on a precise formula
  impose detailed conditions for state eligibility
• Federal govt. often matches contributions of
  states for specific purposes (e.g. highway
  construction)

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2) Creative Federalism

• The rise of civil rights as a major national
  issue
• Trumans Fair Deal platform in 1948
• States were often blamed for preserving systems
  of discrimination (e.g. Jim Crow laws in the Deep
  South)
• Federalism was viewed as an avenue to compel the
  states to mend their ways

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2a) The Carrot and Stick Nature of Creative
Federalism

• The carrot federal funds for state programs
• The stick withholding funds to those states who
  do not follow national policy
• Significant portions of the revenues for most
  state budgets come from the federal govt.

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2b) Johnsons Great Society Program (1964-1968)

• War on Poverty was the central program
• Designed to combat discrimination poverty
• Brought the federal govt. into conflict w/ state
  local govt.

Lyndon Johnson (1908-1973). Picture courtesy
Encarta
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2bi) Great Society cont.

• Johnsons programs often were designed to bypass
  conservative state/local govt. that were often
  the source of discrimination
• Provoked a great deal of anger at Washington,
  D.C. programs
• Led to further shifting of power to the federal
  govt.
• Led to the regulatory era of the 1970s

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2c) Revenue Sharing

• Originally a Democratic idea
• Designed to channel federal money to states with
  no strings attached
• Popular with the states but unpopular with natl.
  politicians

Richard Nixon (1913-1997). Picture courtesy
Encarta
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2d) Fruitcake Federalism

• Between 1965-1980, federal aid to cities and
  state tripled
• Abandonment of the notion of zones of
  sovereignty
• Resources distributed to all concerned without
  concern for efficiency or for the rising national
  debt
• Negative reactions quickly followed

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3) New Federalism the Devolution Revolution

• Presidents between 1970-1980 opposed big
  government but did not reduce spending
• Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980 promising to
  curb social spending
• Clothed his program in states-rights rhetoric

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3a) Government is not the Solution

• For the 1st time in 30 yrs, federal aid to
  state/local govt. declined
• Reagan argued for replacing categorical grants
  with block grant programs
• Grants for broad activities w/ few strings
  attached

Ronald Reagan (1911-?). Picture courtesy Encarta
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3ai) The Byproducts of the Reagan Revolution

• Fewer available funds sharpened competition among
  state/local govt.
• Recession in the 1990s created budget shortfalls
  for many states
• Governors forced to raise taxes cut social
  services and became very unpopular

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3aii) The Rise of Intergovernmental Lobbies

• Competition for federal aid caused state/local
  govt. to lobby Washington for funds
• Hire professional lobbyists to advocate for
  federal support
• Some lobbies also litigate to insure state/local
  interests are represented in the courts

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3aiii) The Big SevenPremier Intergovernmental
Lobbies
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3b) The Devolution Revolution

• Federalist 17 Hamilton believed it will always
  be far more easy for the State govt. to encroach
  upon the national authorities than for the
  national govt. to encroach upon the State
  authorities
• How wrong he proved!
• By the early 1990s, many state governors
  rebelled at the growing influence of the federal
  govt.
• Especially preemption unfunded mandates

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3bi) Preemption

• Congressional acts that override state/local
  actions in certain areas
• Basically undermines the 10th Amendment (reserved
  powers clause)
• Often impose significant cost on state/local
  govt.
• Relates especially to environmental
  anti-discriminatory laws

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3bii) Unfunded Mandates

• Laws that direct state/local govt. to comply with
  federal rules or regulations
• Carry the threat of civil or criminal penalties
• Unfunded mandates require state/local govt. to
  absorb the cost of following federal guidelines

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3biii) Unfunded Mandates cont.

• Meeting unfunded mandates often account for as
  much as 30 of a local govt. operating budget
• Example of Columbus, OH (pop. slightly larger
  than Tulsa, OK)
• Unfunded provisions attached to existing
  grant-in-aid programs
• Faced a 1 billion bill to comply with the
  federal Clean Water Act the Safe Drinking Water
  Act
• Estimated cost of 685 per household

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3biv) The Growth of Regulatory Federalism
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3bv) The Problem with Unfunded Mandates

• Most states have constitutional provisions that
  require balanced budgets
• Mandates means higher taxes which makes
  state/local legislatures very unpopular

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3bvi) Good Times, Bad Times

• The Clinton years were good for state govt.
• Total state budget surpluses in 1998 exceeded 30
  billion
• Some state increased social spending
• Some cut taxes
• By 2001, stock market declines, economic
  recession, increasing health care costs hurt
  the states badly
• CA facing a 30 billion deficit

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3c) The Contract with America

• Republicans campaigned in the midterm elections
  of 1994 promising to return money, power, and
  responsibility to the state
• A crucial element of the Contract was a promise
  to end unfunded mandates

John Kasich (1952-??) Ohio Republican and
co-architect of the Contract w/ America Picture
courtesy New Century Project.
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3ci) The Gingrich Revolution

• GA Republican who orchestrated the GOP takeover
  of Congress in 1994
• Promised a continuation of the Reagan Revolution
  by cutting social welfare spending
• Speaker of the House 1994-1998

Newt Gingrich, former Speaker principal
architect of the Contract with America. Picture
courtesy Newt.org.
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4) Policy in ActionSetting a National Alcohol
Policy

• The sharp decline of fatal crashes involving
  drivers aged 18-21. Why?
• The effectiveness of grass roots lobbying by MADD
  related groups

Wendy Hamilton, current Pres. of MADD. Picture
courtesy MADD website
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4a) Policy in Action cont.

• MADD lobbied Congress to amend the Surface
  Transportation Act (1982) to impose a national
  drinking age (21)
• Congress passed the provision using the
  carrot-and-stick nature of federalism
• Made states conform to anational ideal in order
  to receive federal funds
• Now MADD is lobbying for Congress to impose
  national standards for drunkenness (.08)

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5) Federalism and the Supreme Court

• The Supreme Court is the ultimate arbiter of the
  meaning of the Constitution
• Therefore, the SC decides on the nature of
  federalism
• The Courts interpretation of federalism kept the
  national govt. out of state politics until well
  into the 20th century

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5a) Federalism the Supreme Court

• From the New Deal forward, the Court has
  increasingly accepted the national govt. playing
  a role in encouraging state/local govt. to act
  in certain areas
• Especially in education, the electoral process,
  the commerce clause

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5ai) The Supreme Court Education

• Education is traditionally a local matter
• Brown v. Board of Education (1954) ended the
  tradition of local control
• Ruled unconstitutional segregated state
  educational systems

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5aii) The Courts Elections

• States generally control voter qualifications
• However, since 1964 the courts have begun to
  involve itself in the electoral
• The Court has invalidated poll taxes
• The courts have also involved themselves in the
  redistricting process

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5aiii) The Courts and the Commerce Clause

• Congress commerce clause has been broadly
  construed to justify virtually any national
  intrusion into state matters
• Garcia v. San Antonio Metropolitan Transit
  Authority (1985)
• Fed. govt. can compel states to pay all employees
  at least minimum wage
• The Supreme Court has essentially declared the
  10th Amendment meaningless!

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5b) The Devolution Revolution and the Court

• Republican presidents appointment of conservative
  judges has revived the federalism argument
• The Rehnquist Court has generally supported
  states rights against those of the national
  govt.
• However, recent progressive decisions have upheld
  affirmative action struck down laws
  criminalizing homosexual sodomy

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5c) Politics NowMarriage in the Federal System

• Vermont became the 1st state to sanction same sex
  civil unions
• The relationship between the state and the
  institution of marriage
• The state is viewed as having an interest in
  promoting marriage
• Marriage as predominating viewed as a
  relationship b/n a man and a woman

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5ci) Politics Now cont.

• The implications of the equal protection clause
  of the 14th Amendment
• If heterosexual relationships are protected
  promoted by the state, why not gay relationships?
• Hawaiis attempt to ban homosexual marriages
  the U.S. Defense of Marriage Act
• The idea of a Federal Marriage Amendment
• Why is gay marriage such a controversial issue?