THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 2, 1994 TAG: 9409020040
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A22 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Editorial
LENGTH: Medium: 52 lines
Congress' daydreams have long since become state governments' nightmares. The burden imposed on states and localities by unfunded mandates has a small but growing group of governors calling for rebellion.
Like all daydreamers, members of Congress hope to reshape the world, but are conscious that their constituents are fed up with taxes. So they pass the buck to the states through mandates which the states have to abide by and pay for. Congress thus reaps the credit while the governors have to do the dirty work of raising taxes or cutting services. For Congress, it's the mandate from heaven.
In recent years, laws such as the Clean Air Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Clean Water Act and a myriad of other regulatory statutes have dictated everything from what gasoline can be sold and where to the architecture of public buildings.
Gov. Pete Wilson of California and John Engler of Michigan have both said they might refuse to implement the provisions of the so-called motor-voter registration law unless the federal government agrees to cover the expenses involved. Others have talked of dusting off the 10th Amendment to the Constitution, which relegates to the states all powers not specifically given to the federal government. Even more drastically, Utah Gov. Michael O. Leavitt is gathering support for a constitutional convention as a last resort to redress the imbalance of power between the feds and the states.
That last resort might not be so far off, either. Legislation before Congress that would supposedly curb unfunded mandates has been gutted by the Democratic leadership of any meaningful language. The time for self-reform is running out.
And the cry against federal mandates is not limited to governors. In a recent survey, unfunded mandates were the No. 1 concern of city and county officials across the country. And no wonder: Sizable and growing portions of local budgets are also being consumed trying to meet the standards Congress sets. Some small towns across the nation face bankruptcy because of federal regulations that dictate hugely expensive sewage-treatment systems, or widening doors and installing access ramps and elevators in public buildings.
Portsmouth Mayor Gloria Webb has said she could hire 440 new teachers and 500 new policemen if federal and state mandates were abolished.
Congress has demonstrated again and again its obstinate refusal to mend its ways. Along with term limits, maybe a constitutional convention would wake it up. by CNB