Happy Constitution Day!

• Wed- Sep 19- NO CLASS

• Mon, Sep 24, Socioeconomic and Political Presentations • Wed, Sep 26, State Elections

• Mon, Oct 1, Guest Speaker Tom Gais, Rockefeller Institute, Federalism • Wed, Oct 3, State Political Parties

Federalism Outline

• 1. Definition of federalism/intergovernmental relations • 2. constitutional ambiguity

• 3. historical evolution

• 4. competing normative perspectives on benefits of national vs state control;

• 5. competing empirical perspectives on benefits of national vs state control;

Defining federalism

• Citizens elect officials to each level of govt • Each level of government taxes citizens

• Each level has a primary responsibility for certain areas of public policy

• 24 of 193 countries (40% of population)

Constitutional Basis of Federalism

• National Government

• Article 1- “No state shall” coin money, engage in treaty, lay duties, engage in war, etc

• Article 1, Section Congress shall do what is "necessary and proper" for the “general welfare of the US”

• Article 6-Supremacy Clause "supreme law of the land“

• States

• guarantee to every state in this union a republican form of government; state boundaries are invoiolate

• “The powers not delegated to (fed govt) are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.” 10th _Amd

Constitution & Federalism

• Fed #51 “ a double security against majority tyranny”

• Divide the power of government within the levels of government (sep of powers) but also across governments (between state and national

governments)

• Different governments will control each other against the oppression of governments

States Rights vs. Nationalists

• Nullification

• Then and Now

 TX, 2011- Let There Be Light Law, allow manuf of incandescent bulbs

Dual Federalism

• 1789-1937, Layer cake model

• two distinct layers of government • Separate powers and spheres of

influence

• Feds, internal improvements, tariffs, etc

• States- commerce, banking, insurance, slavery, health, education, criminal, etc

Hammer v. Dagenhart (1918)

Great Depression and Demise of Dual

Federalism

Cooperative Federalism

• Eisenhower Era

• Interstate Highways • Urban Renewal

• Airport Construction

• Great Society programs

• Medicaid and Medicare • Education Aid

• Model Cities

• Today

• Clinton crime, education policy (100k new police) • Bush – Leave No Child Behind

Categorical grants

• Federal grant of $ to state

• interstate highways, poverty, crime, education, pollution • Categorical grants specified use of money

Marble Cake Federalism

• Intermingling of federal, state, and local authority

• Example of education

• Feds- Leave no child behind, Special education, Labor laws • States- labor laws, curriculum,

testing

Food Stamp Program

• National Goal- improve nutrition in low income households • Feds provide $, pay 62% of administrative costs

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

• Feds revise eligibility criteria

• Up to 130% of poverty line (2,389 family of 4) • Able bodied adults can receive for 3 months • Disabled vet, child of vet

• State EBT/Debit Card

• No discrimination race, gender, sex orientation • Most legal immigrants eligible

New Federalism

• 1968-present

• Reduce the power of the national government • Less $$, fewer strings (?)

Block Grants

• provided unrestricted grants to states and localities • Entitlement, not competition

Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant

Program (2009)

• ”$2.7 billion will be awarded through formula grants. In addition, approximately $454 million will be allocated through competitive grants” (energy.gov)

Grants can be used for

• Development of an energy efficiency and conservation strategy • Building energy audits and retrofits, including weatherization • Financial incentive programs for energy efficiency

• Transportation programs to conserve energy and support renewable fuel

infrastructure

• Building code development, implementation, and inspections • Installation of distributed energy technologies

• source reduction, recycling, and recycled content programs

• Reduction and capture of greenhouse gas emissions generated by landfills or similar waste-related sources

• Installation of energy efficient traffic signals and street lighting

• Installation of renewable energy technologies on government buildings

• Any other appropriate activity that meets the purposes of the program and is approved by DOE

Coercive or Regulatory Federalism,

1980-• Democratic Unfunded Mandates

• Asbestos Hazard Emergence Act of 1986 • Safe Drinking Water Act 1986

• Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 • National Voter Registration Act of 1993

• GOP Unfunded Mandates

• No Internet taxation • No Child Left Behind • Help America Vote Act

HAVA

• Update their voting machines (no punch card)

• each polling location have at least one voting system accessible to individuals with disabilities

• develop a single, uniform, official, centralized,

interactive computerized statewide voter registration list

Cake Analogy?

• Baking Analogy- You can have any cake you want as long as it has chocolate

State Mandates Under Obamacare

• Adjust eligibility in Medicaid to new federal rules (16 million+) • Establish high risk insurance pools for people with preexisting

conditions (by Jan 1, 2014); create insurance exchanges

• Require insurance companies to allow dependents up to 26 stay on parent’s insurance

Who Pays Who Decides Example Categorical

Grants 70%/Feds/30% states Nationalgovernment sets goals, states limited discretion Food Stamps Block Grants 60% Feds/O% states (less money State

government Energy Efficiency Unfunded

Mandates 0% Feds/100% States

National

Lessons of Federalism

• Few rules, fewer fixed boundaries

• Enormous flexibilitysocial problems, political cross pressures • Alternative venues for political conflict

• Maintaining the “proper balance”

• Fiscal

Basic Tradeoff

• a more centralized system is likely to be more uniform, equitable, and accountable

Donahue, The Devil in Devolution

Gambling

• Jobs for low skill workers, unionized • generate income,

sales, gambling taxes • investment in

building new casinos • people like to gamble/entertainme nt/tourism Cons • Problem gambling • bankruptcy, embezzlement,

divorce, and suicide • Crime, drugs,

prostitution • Moral decay • Parasitic

Iowa Riverboat Gaming

• 1991 law limits passengers to $5 per bet with a maximum loss of $200 per day

Illinois’ response? Iowa’s response?

Race to the Bottom

• Environmental Regulation – smokestack chasing • Corporate Chartering- Delaware

• Gambling- from Vegas to Infinity • Other issues?

• Problem with RTB?

Bruce Katz, The New American Localism

• Where is/should policy leadership come from?

Katz, Why Cities and Metro Areas Must Lead

https://weburbanist.com/2016/12/06/us-megaregions-algorithm-redefines-boundaries-of-metropolitan-areas/

U.S. Based on Local GDP Contributions

• Pod Save America Takes Los Angeles

• LA Mayor Eric Garcetti on lessons of success at the local level • lack of public transportation and lack of housing.