Rep. Rob Bishop has long been the strongest advocate for balanced federalism in Congress. It has, no doubt, been a rather lonely crusade as money and power continue to concentrate in Washington.
But now Bishop is in a position to make some noise and, hopefully, progress. House Speaker Paul Ryan has appointed him as chair of a Speaker’s Task Force on Intergovernmental Affairs, giving him a forum to analyze federal/state relations and make recommendations to improve the nation’s governance. The task force is holding its first hearing today (Thursday) in Washington.
The bipartisan task force is unique, Bishop said. Nothing like it has been convened previously and he worked hard to make it happen. He has the full support of Speaker Ryan, who will speak at the first hearing.
And he vows task force discussions won’t be just an academic exercise. He views the consolidation of money and power in the nation’s capital as the fundamental problem underlying most of Washington’s many problems. Getting the federal/state balance right could, over time, help resolve the country’s most nagging challenges – including deficit spending, overregulation, and the general dysfunction and gridlock shrouding the capital.
With state and local governments closest to the people delivering most government services, according to local needs and circumstances, the federal government could be lean and mean and focus successfully on its limited constitutional duties.
Bishop wants to focus on structural, procedural solutions – reforms that will have lasting value and eventually rebalance the system. Little progress is made fighting over day-to-day issues. Process always trumps policy, he said.
The task force is comprised of seven Republican and six Democratic House members, with state and local government organizations and leaders serving as an advisory council to the task force. Proposals emerging from the task force will be bi-partisan, Bishop said.
While Republicans have led efforts for local control, balanced federalism is good for liberals and well as conservatives, Bishop said. He fully approves of liberal cities and states setting their own course on such things as immigration, gun control, climate change regulations and funding Planned Parenthood – even if he disagrees with their policies.
If some areas want robust, overbearing government, let them do it as long as they don’t impose their views on everyone else, he said. Sometimes locals can get it wrong, and that’s just fine. It’s better than the federal government getting it wrong for the whole nation. People making choices about themselves don’t always have to choose the right way. Bishop said some of the things liberals at the local level are doing are poor choices. But they have right to do the wrong thing.
In a nation full of laboratories of democracy, the best solutions will rise to the top.
Money is always a contentious issue in federalism discussions. With the federal government deeply in debt, will funding follow devolution, or will states and local governments get more responsibility, but no money to carry out the additional workload?
That’s a tough issue, but Bishop believes that funding will eventually follow if states have more power and authority. The debate can’t just be about money, he said, or devolution efforts will fail. The debate has to be about procedure and structure. If the system is balanced, money will follow.
States and local governments will need to be more self-sufficient and reduce reliance on federal funding he said. The concentration of power in Washington has occurred, in large part, because states have been willing to give up autonomy and control to get federal money.
Bishop said he knows what improvements and structural reforms he would like to see enacted. But he won’t push his own agenda in the committee above other ideas and opinions. He wants to see all committee members thinking creatively and finding solutions.
In a properly balanced federal system, we’d see less gridlock in Washington and better problem-solving and governance at all levels, Bishop said. Dysfunction is a byproduct of too many decisions being made in Washington. Decisions made at local levels, according to local circumstances, will be better, faster and more responsive to citizens.
The nation’s biggest problems appear unsolvable in Washington. But not in a balanced federal system.
