Wisconsin lawmakers seek change in federal-state relationship
By M.D. Kittle of Wisconsin Watchdog
MADISON, Wis. – Two conservative state lawmakers are calling on their congressional brethren to “give power and flexibility back to the states as intended by the Constitution.”
On Friday, Sens. Dave Craig, R-Town of Vernon, and Chris Kapenga, R-Delafield, sent a letter to U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz effectively calling for federal recognition of the Ninth and Tenth amendments.
Chaffetz chairs the House’s Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The Utah Republican has been hearing a lot lately from Wisconsin conservatives seeking relief from seemingly endless federal regulations and unfunded mandates.
“As state policy-makers, we are consistently contacted by constituents and business leaders about the cost of compliance of unfunded mandates and burdensome federal regulations,” Craig and Kapenga wrote. “When developing policy solutions at the state level, we are continually stymied by federal rules preventing us from solving important problems.
“The most common area of burdensome regulations arise out of requirements tied to federal funding.”
The senators assert the “insidious use of federal funds” has tied the hands of state governments and businesses, robbing local control and increasing costs for compliance and delivery of services. More so, they argue, the divvying up federal dollars collected by taxpayers nationwide has expanded the size and scope of the bureaucracy at all levels “to the detriment of the private sector and taxpayers.”
“We would generally request that funding delegated back to the states be free from costly and burdensome restrictions so that Wisconsinites can achieve better schools, roads, and services for the dollar,” the lawmakers urge in their letter.
Regulations, unfunded mandates and the burdens they place on state governments and the private sector have increased significantly over the past generation – but they have exploded during the past two presidential administrations.
More than 90,000 pages were added to the Federal Register during 2016, making last year’s list of federal rules and regs 10,000 pages longer than the previous record, according to a recent piece in Reason.com. Thirteen of the 15 longest registers in American history belong to Obama and George W. Bush administrations, with Obama claiming seven of the top eight spots, according to the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
“If Donald Trump’s incoming administration aims to reverse that worrying trend—something the president-elect has claimed to want to do—then it could use a helping hand from Congress,” wrote Reason’s Eric Boehm. “The growth of the regulatory state is inextricably linked to the expansion of the executive branch’s powers in recent decades, but those powers have expanded in part because congress has willingly winnowed its own authority.”
A report last year by the conservative American Action Forum found that federal regulators had cost states almost $35 billion in unfunded mandates and some 75 million hours in onerous paperwork since Obama took office.
“This figure only examines the largest regulations that impose unfunded state mandates and there are doubtless other rules that impose costs on local governments that might not be counted in these data,” AAF’s report states.
The left-leaning group Public Citizen in a statement called AAF’s analysis “one-sided,” that it does not take into account the benefits of health and safety regulations.
There is a broader effect. Over-burdensome, even duplicative regulations stifle economy growth, business advocates say.
A 2014 National Association of Manufacturing report found the total cost of federal regulations topped $2 trillion in 2012. It has only risen since, experts say. The annual cost burden for an average U.S. firm was $233,182, or 21 percent of average payroll, the report stated. Federal regulations remain the top challenge facing the majority of U.S. firms.
With an ostensibly pro-reform Republican majority in Congress and a new president who campaigned on cutting regulations, Craig and Kapenga said they are “encouraged by the potential for real reforms to come from Washington.” Reining in the federal authority would “unshackle state and local officials to realize substantive savings and provide relief to taxpayers who have shouldered the tax burden of an overbearing federal government,” the state senators wrote in the letter to Chaffetz.
They said they also see great potential in block grant federal funding for the 150-plus federal welfare programs administered in Wisconsin.
“This would allow significant reduction in the federal bureaucracy and provide us the flexibility and freedom to implement policies that greater encourage work for those receiving public benefits,” the lawmakers write.
Gov. Scott Walker this week announced his “Wisconsin Works for Everyone” welfare reform package that, among other provisions, would require able-bodied adults – with children older than 6 – that receive FoodShare benefits and housing assistance to work at least 80 hours per month or participate in a job training program.
Walker will need federal approval before proceeding with plans to drug test FoodShare recipients, something he requested in a letter to President Donald Trump in December.
Earlier this month, State Rep. Andre Jacqué, R-De Pere, sent a similar-themed letter to Chaffetz noting the costs and burdens of the federal prevailing wage law.