January, 1999
The National Conference of State Legislatures is dedicated to promoting a balanced and constructive partnership between the states and the federal government. We help state legislatures craft informed and imaginative responses to the country's public policy challenges. We attempt to foster a climate in the nation's capital that allows state legislatures maximum opportunity to experiment and innovate. We oppose federal unfunded mandates. We propote devolution and oppose preemption. We promote flexibility. We advance America's ideas.
NCSL's priorities for our work in Washington, D.C. in 1999 are dominated by opposition to proposals to preempt state authority and to centralize policy making at the federal level. Proposals to reform banking and insurance laws, to preempt state managed care laws, and to restructure electric utilities all ignore the country's diversity and the need for state legislatures to fit solutions to each state's unique circumstances. In addition, NCSL will be advancing the legislatures' interest in Social Security reform, protecting state interests in federal budget negotiations and fighting administration efforts to recoup a major portion of state tobacco settlement money.
Medicaid Recoupment
Electric Utility Deregulation
Managed Care
Social Security Reform
National Driver's License
Budget Proposals
Aviation
Protecting Against Preemption
NCSL believes tobacco settlement money is state money.
The November agreement between state attorneys general and the five major tobacco companies elevates the importance of the Medicaid recoupment issue. The Health Care Finance Administration claims that states owe the federal government half or more of the money they will receive in the settlement. NCSL is working with a bipartisan coalition to pass a bill that would deny the HCFA claim. Several members of Congress want to tie a recoupment "fix" with conditions on how the state money will be spent. NCSL's position is that the settlement money is state money, the federal govenrment declined to join the state suits, and that a bill denying the recoupment claim should be free of conditions. (AFI Health Committee)
NCSL opposes federal intrusion on states' authority to regulate electric utilities.
Since 1995, 12 legislatures have restructured their states' electric utilities. In 1998, nine bills were introduced in Congress that would impose a federal electric utility restructuring solution. The Clinton administration has unveiled its own deregulation approach. NCSL opposes federal preemption of the states' authority in this area. Oklahoma state Senator Larry Dickerson articulates NCSL's position in a January 1999 article in State Legislatures Magazine. "Most of the new state laws are just now taking effect. We know a lot of legislatures are watching and waiting to see how they are going to work. So why should the federal government step in this early, without the benefit of learning from these state experiences? … A federal law could easily force restructuring where the state's legislature has concluded it is not warranted." (AFI Energy and Transportation Committee)
NCSL opposes federal proposals to override or supplant state authority over managed care.
Almost every state legislature has acted in some way to regulate managed care, especially to protect patients. For example, they have limited "drive through" maternity stays and have eased access to emergency services. Republicans in Congress and the president have different proposals to impose federal managed care requirements. NCSL opposes these federal proposals to override or supplant state authority over managed care. (AFI Health Committee)
NCSL opposes mandating Social Security coverage for public employees.
State governments have an abiding interest in the various proposals to reform the Social Security system. NCSL strongly opposes efforts to mandate Social Security coverage for public employees. At least 22 states have a substantial portion of their employees in alternative retirement systems. To mandate Social Security coverage for these employees would impose a heavy burden on state budgets and would be unfair to the employees who have planned for their retirement around the current systems. NCSL has a new task force of state legislators and legislative staff that will make recommendations this spring on a wider array of state interests in Social Security reform. (AFI Human Services Committee)
NCSL is working to remove the driver's license provision from the 1996 Illegal Immigration Act.
The 1996 Illegal Immigration law requires states to use Social Security numbers on their driver's licenses. This move imposes a costly unfunded mandate on the states and it preempts state laws regarding the use of Social Security numbers on driver's licenses. Many legislatures recently have moved to take Social Security numbers off of driver's licenses, so the federal requirement is the opposite of recent state trends. NCSL will work during 1999 to remove the driver's license provision from the 1996 Act. (AFI Energy and Transportation Committee)
NCSL opposes reduction in state block grants.
The historic agreement reached in 1997 to balance the federal budget delayed many of the hard decisions until the "out years" of the five-year plan. In FY 2000, the out years arrive. Of greatest importnace to state officials is a cap on discretionary spending that requires a $29.1 billion cut. Many state-federal programs could be high on the list of candidates for cuts. Particularly troublesome for state legislators will be suggestions to reduce block grant funds, including TANF and the Social Services Block Grant (Title XX). State legislators argue that any reductions in TANF would betray the agreement state officials reached with the federal government when the welfare system was revamped in 1996. (AFI Human Services Committee)
NCSL wants to ensure that aviation money is spent on aviation.
We will campaign to remove the aviation trust fund from the federal unified budget and to guarantee that all revenue dedicated to the trust fund is spent each year on aviation. We will oppose efforts to limit state and local fee structures. We will support the exemption of airport bonds from federal taxation. We will support expansion of the aviation block grant program to all states. We will support continuation of the essential air service program. (AFI Energy and Transportation Committee)
NCSL supports constraints on preemption.
State legislators view the greatest current tension in state-federal relations to be the federal government's growing tendency to preempt or supplant state authority. Managed care, electric utility deregulation, juvenile justice, property rights, and driver's licenses are just a few of the many current examples of federal preemption proposals. NCSL is working with governors and local officials on a bill to place constraints on preemption. This will likely focus on procedural obstacles that could retard the progress of specific preemption proposals through Congress and executive agencies.
If you have any questions about these or other state-federal issues, please contact:
Michael Bird, Senior Federal Affairs Counsel, (202) 624-8686
Joy Johnson Wilson, Federal Affairs Counsel, (202) 624-8689
Alysoun McLaughlin, Federal Affairs Assistant, (202) 624-8691
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