Federalism

Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike CC BY-NC-SA PROTECTING NEBRASKA WATERS

• Federalism = power is divided up among different levels of government (i.e. federal, state, and local)

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• Cooperative federalism = the concept of different levels of government having separate powers/responsibilities, but they sometimes overlap, leading to either collaboration or conflict between levels

Basic Definitions

• Some of the federal government’s powers are specifically listed in the Constitution; these are called “the enumerated powers”

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• The Constitution also says that the federal government has the power to do anything that is “necessary and proper” for it to exercise its enumerated powers

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The Necessary and Proper Clause

According to the Constitution, when federal and state laws conflict with each other, the federal law will always supersede the state laws.

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The Supremacy Clause

• “The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States.”

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• The federal government can create grants and conditional spending programs, as long as they serve the “general welfare” of the nation and don’t cause any “injury” to specific states.

The Spending Clause

The Homelessness Crisis

A Case Study of Cooperative Federalism

• Giving grants and other funding to state governments that make some effort to address homelessness within their own cities/towns

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• Creating programs and other guidelines (e.g. “Housing First” and “All In”) that states can choose to follow

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• Offering incentives to states that follow federal programs/guidelines

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• National emergency policies (e.g. eviction moratorium during the Covid-19 Pandemic)

Federal Solutions

• Giving grants and other funding to local governments that make some effort to address homelessness

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• Withholding funding from local governments if the state doesn’t approve of their homelessness response plans

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• Creating state-funded “support teams” that are deployed to different cities to guide and assist with their homelessness plans

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• Building facilities (e.g. psychiatric centers, hospitals, shelters) that are funded and/or operated by the state

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• Providing temporary housing units

State Solutions

• Taking an inventory of publicly-owned land and buildings, then converting them into affordable housing and/or shelters

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• Creating rent control and eviction protection policies to keep people off the streets

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• Changing zoning laws to allow more affordable housing to be built

Local Solutions

Watch: lincoln-gets-4-million-from-hud-to-help-combat-homelessness

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Working Together

Federal response:

• Eviction moratorium
• $27 million granted to Nebraska for fighting homelessness
• Gave Lincoln guidance and advice for how to spend the money

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State response:

• Allocated $4.1 million (out of the $27 million received) to Lincoln
• Gave Lincoln guidance and advice for how to spend the money

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Local response:

• Affordable housing
• Rental assistance
• Supportive services
• Creation of a homeless shelter

Working Together

The size and nature of a specific problem determine which level(s) of government should be responsible for solving it…but people often disagree about this

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Homelessness

• How much money should the federal government put towards supporting state and local homelessness policies and projects?

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• Should the homelessness response plans of state and local governments be more standardized and regulated (to ensure they are sufficient and efficient), or should they have more freedom to tailor their plans to their unique circumstances?

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• Is it ethical and Constitutional for the federal government to withhold funding from states that don’t follow its guidelines?

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• To fight homelessness, should we focus on changing federal, state, or local laws?

Strained Cooperative Federalism

The size and nature of a specific problem determine which level(s) of government should be responsible for solving it…but people often disagree about this

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The Covid-19 Pandemic

• President Trump sent federal law enforcement officers to help keep the peace in cities experiencing an uptick in violent crime, but the mayors of many of these cities rejected them, insisting that they had no right to intervene.

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• President Trump claimed that he would withhold federal funding from any school district that refused to resume in-person instruction.

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• Senator Dianne Feinstein called for federal Covid-19 relief to be withheld from states without mask mandates.

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• Many governors undermined or overrode local health policies (e.g. Georgia’s governor sued the mayor of Atlanta to block her mask mandate)

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• Sheriffs and police chiefs openly refused to enforce mask mandates and other policies put in place by both local and state officials.

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Strained Cooperative Federalism

How does the fight for control between different levels of government affect the health of America’s democracy?

Reflection Question

1. Sally, an 11th grade student, is tired all the time, and so are her friends, but between school, homework, extra curricular activities, and family time, they can’t afford to go to bed earlier. Sally believes that society demands too much of teenagers today, and she wants to do something about it.

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• Amed checked out a book at his local library, but when he brought it to school, it was confiscated from him. He soon learned that it had been “banned” at his school. Amed feels this is unfair. What should he do?

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• Jeremy is worried about internet safety and the negative effects of social media on his generation. What can he do about it?

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• Amanda recently learned that many kids do not have access to books at home, and that this puts them at a significant disadvantage at school. She wants to do something to help, but she’s not sure what she can do.

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• Shira thinks that recycling is a crucial part of taking care of our planet, and she wishes more people did it. She intends to do something about it, but what?

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• Every day, as Jared walks home from school through Pickman’s Park, he is harassed by some aggressive geese. He heard his neighbors complaining about the geese, too. What can he do?

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• 7A’s homeroom teacher, Mrs. Circle, was recently hit by a car while she was biking to school in the morning. The students of 7A are determined to prevent accidents like this in the future and make the streets of their town safer for bikers. How might they accomplish their goal?

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• Cleatus really enjoys civics class and believes that all students should have to take a civics class before they graduate from high school. Unfortunately, civics is not a required class at his own school. Cleatus wants to promote civics education, but he doesn’t know how.

PRACTICE

Directions: For each of these scenarios, consider which level(s) of government could help solve the problem at hand.

• In reality, there is no single “right” answer for which level of government should solve a given problem

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• Besides the nature and scope of a problem, you should also consider your own resources, timeline, and likelihood of success

PRACTICE