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State and Local Government Intergovernmental Relations:

Part II

1

Devolution • Devolution is the decentralization of power and authority

from the federal government to state or local governments. • Mostly initiated under block grants with President Reagan.

Gave funds and discretion to states and locals with all the risk.

• Transfers public policy to states and shrinks federal government

• More government rules and regulations • With the federal level devolving responsibility to state and

local governments, states enacted new rules and regulations Federal government responded with promulgating new rules and regulations on environmental protection and other issues.

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Devolution and the States

• Uncertain Future • External constraints on state action

• e.g., federal laws, recessions (late 2000s…) • Internal constraints on state action

• e.g., state characteristics

3

State and Local Government Relations

• Interrelationship between states and local governments not clearly defined as between federal and state governments • Dillon’s Rule: Local governments have only those

powers and duties explicitly given to them by the state.

• Some states allow home rule where a local government adopts a charter (like a constitution) to govern its activities.

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Local Governments • Types of Local Government

• Counties • Townships • Municipalities

• Town meeting: form of direct democracy where citizens gather once a year to make policy; rarely used

• Mayor-Council • Council-Manager (city manager): an official

appointed by the city council who is responsible for implementing and administering the council’s actions

• Commission • School Districts • Special Districts

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Why should we care about local government?

6

Service Provider Citizen Contact

Reflection of political culture Autonomy

Role of Local Governments

Commission-Administrator Systems

• Between commission and council-executive • Most executive and legislative power is in the

commission • Administrator at pleasure of commissioners • Administrator runs government

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Special Districts

• School districts • Transportation, fire, housing, libraries, etc.

• Annexation

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Numbers of Local Governments, 1952 vs. 2012

9 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, “Preliminary Count of Local Governments by Type and State,” http://www.census.gov/govs/cog2012/ (accessed April 10, 2013).

Traditional Organization of County Government

10 SOURCE: U.S. Bureau of the Census, “Preliminary Count of Local Governments by Type and State,” http://www.census.gov/govs/cog2012/ (accessed April 10, 2013).

Mayor-Council Form of

Government

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Council-Manager Form of Government

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City Commission Form of Government

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Local Governmental Participation

• Ward/district elections

• At-large elections

• Local officeholder demographics

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Local Governments • Fragmentation, Cooperation, and Competition

• Not much cooperation among local governments in a state to solve problems

• Regional governments are able to coordinate some activities in some areas.

• Differences in opinion on needs and competition make cooperation difficult.

• Council of Governments (COGs) can coordinate some activities as well.

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Local Governmental Authority • Dillon’s Rule

• Local governments have only those powers and duties explicitly given to them by the state.

• Home rule • Some states allow home rule where a local

government adopts a charter (like a constitution) to govern its activities.

• Charters • General act charters • Special act charters

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Local Governments • Formed by a charter—a document that specifies

basic procedures, politics, and institutions of any local municipality. Similar to a constitution.

• Counties: subdivisions of every state except Connecticut and Rhode Island.

• Towns: government in which everyone is invited to an annual meeting for elections, budget discussions, etc.

• Municipalities: villages, towns, and cities • Special Districts: school districts, etc.

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Types of Charters for Local Governments

• Special Charters • General Charters • Classified Charters • Optional Charters • Home Rule Charters

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Finances • Unlike the national government, states and localities must

balance their budgets. • States receive as much as 25% of their funds from

Washington, D.C. • Local governments get as much as 15% of their money

from the federal government. • Different governments depend on different taxes and fees

for revenue. • States rely primarily on income and sales taxes. • Local governments tend to rely on property taxes

and some sales tax income. • Both local and state governments levy users' fees for

parks, hunting licenses, tuition, and so on.

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State and Local Tax Burdens

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The Diversity of Counties No two counties are exactly the same. Counties are one of America’s oldest forms of government, dating back to 1634 when the first county governments were established in Virginia. Ever since, county governments continue to evolve and adapt to changing environments and populations, with Petersburg Borough, Alaska, incorporating as recently as 2013. Counties are diverse in the way they are structured and how they deliver services to their communities. States decide counties’ roles and responsibilities. States can allow counties to govern themselves by granting them home rule authority, which gives counties varying degrees of power to decide their own structural, functional and fiscal organization. Counties’ demographic, geographic and economic characteristics dictate how they deliver services to their communities. The organization and structure of counties are tailored to fit their communities’ needs and characteristics.

• Los Angeles County invests $18.9 billion annually — or more than 23 of our state governments each year.

• If Cook County, Ill., were a state, it would be bigger than 30 states in population.

• Almost two-thirds of counties have less than 50,000 residents. • One in four acres of county land is federally owned. In the West, one in

two acres of county land is federally owned.

19,300 Elected county board members and elected

executives

$482.1 BILLION

total expenditures annually

$3.3 MILLION

County employees

Service to

296 MILLION

County residents

www.naco.org/countiesmatter22

Transportation & Infrastructure Transportation and infrastructure are critical components that support the economies of our counties and improve the standard of living for all Americans. By providing efficient transportation and transit options such as buses, trains, light rail and subway systems, counties are the driving force connecting communities. Counties invest in building the schools where students learn, the hospitals that treat and provide care to the community and the jails that house and rehabilitate wrongdoers. From cleaning up storm debris and restoring safety to the community to cleaning the water we drink by maintaining reservoirs, purification plants and pumping stations, counties provide the basic services that are often taken for granted.

Services include: • Transit • Roads • Bridges • Airports • Construction of public facilities • Water and sewage systems • Solid waste management • Utilities like gas and electricity

COUNTIES ARE INVOLVED IN THE

OPERATION OF

30% of public airports

COUNTIES OWN 228,238

bridges

COUNTIES INVEST $106.3 BILLION

In building infrastructure and maintaining and operating public works annually

COUNTIES INVEST $52.2 BILLION

In construction of public facilities

annually

COUNTIES OWN AND MAINTAIN

45% of America’s roads

COUNTIES ARE INVOLVED IN

27% of public transit systems

COUNTIES INVEST $18.6 BILLIION In sewage and solid waste

management annually

23 www.naco.org/countiesmatter

Healthcare Counties create support systems to keep you healthy from the time you are born until the time you grow old. Many counties operate hospitals and health facilities that provide clinical services, cancer and cardiac care, and emergency and trauma care. County nursing homes offer restorative care and rehabilitation and promote quality of life and wellness to the elderly. From preventative measures like administering flu shots to educating the public with health information, county health departments ensure the everyday health of their residents.

Services Include: • Hospitals • Nursing homes • Behavioral and mental healthcare • Immunizations • Testing services • Indigent healthcare • Health code inspections • Health clinics • Public health

COUNTIES INVEST

$69.7 BILLION

For community health and hospitals annually

COUNTIES SUPPORT 960 hospitals with a total of 96,228 beds that serve more than 14 million patients per day.

In promoting public health through more than 1,550 local health departments COUNTIES OWN

676 Nursing homes, which represent

76% of the publicly owned nursing

homes

2424 www.naco.org/countiesmatter

COUNTIES ARE INVOLVED

Justice and Public Safety Counties keep communities safe, by providing law enforcement and promoting crime prevention. From patrolling and policing the streets, to operating and maintaining county detention facilities, to serving as the arm of the county courts, county sheriffs and police departments are the linchpin of the criminal justice system. The other key players in the system are judges, district attorneys, public defenders, court clerks, jail directors and coroners.

Criminal justice components Include: • Sheriffs departments • County police departments • County court systems • Jails and correctional facilities • Juvenile detention and justice services • District attorneys • Public defenders • Coroners

COUNTIES INVEST

$70.2 BILLION TOTAL in justice and public safety

services annually, of which …

$16.7 BILLION Is spent on county courts

and legal services annually

THERE ARE

3,105 county police and

sheriffs' departments

$30.2 BILLION IS SPENT ON POLICE

AND SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENTS

$23.3 BILLION IS SPENT ON

CORRECTIONAL FACILITIES

11.6 MILLION People were

admitted to county and other local jails

in 2012

2525 www.naco.org/countiesmatter

County Management Counties provide vital services to all Americans, from issuing birth certificates and marriage licenses to operating 911 call centers. Counties often build and maintain the parks, swimming pools, community centers and cultural centers where you spend time with family and friends. Counties are responsible for running elections, from presidential to local. While balancing numerous administrative responsibilities, counties deliver essential services to ensure safe, healthy and resilient communities for their residents.

Services Include: • Record keeping • Tax assessments • 911 call centers • Elections and polling places • Recreation and parks • Arts programs • Housing, community and economic development

COUNTIES INVEST

$9.3 BILLION to build and maintain parks and recreational facilities annually

ANNUALLY, COUNTIES INVEST

$25.6 BILLION Into economic development

THERE ARE MORE THAN

19,300 Elected county board members

and elected executives;

711 Are elected county executives

Every TWO Years …

COUNTIES FUND AND OVERSEE MORE THAN

114,000 polling places

AND COORDINATE MORE THAN

692,000 Poll workers

26 www.naco.org/countiesmatter

The Road Ahead

• Local governments are evolving • Great Recession

• Plunging sales • Lowered property taxes

• New ‘business norm’

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Conclusion

• Government closest to home • Reflects local desires • Day-to-day contact with citizenry

• Constrained • Dillon’s rule • Structural limitations • Economic limitations

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50 State System is Unique • Three unique characteristics of 50 states. They are

innovators in American federalism. • Diversity, Competitiveness, and Resiliency • Diversity due to different financial structure and abilities. • Competitiveness manages the diversity in the federal system, since

no state can be out of bounds on taxation and expenditures. • Competition balances the federal system. • Resiliency is how the states survive and be innovative.

• Federal government is distracted and no longer dominates federalism.

• States are challenged to cut costs and manage size of government.

• States have to maintain their image with public while undergoing transformation.

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• State and local governments filling void created by distracted federal government that is reducing its influence in domestic affairs.

• State and local governments transformed and need to deal with financial issues and intergovernmental conflict.

• New challenges needing federal and state cooperation include terrorism, drugs, and immigration.

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50 State System is Unique

• State and local governments leading U.S. in 21st

century, being innovators and experimenters with public services.

• States and locals improved over their past but are hindered by federalism’s continued conflicts and need for intergovernmental cooperation.

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50 State System is Unique

• States decide on policy important to them. • States less overhanded on local governments and

increased dollars to them. • Improved state constitutions and organizations

make state government more efficient. • State and local governments increased their

strength and success in DC.

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50 State System is Unique

• States expanding while federal government reduces its reach.

• Some states more innovative especially as policy innovators. Other states follow their lead.

• Increased regional, interstate cooperation, thus increase their power and authority in federalism.

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50 State System is Unique

Federal-State System Conflicts

• Greater conflict since feds have unfunded mandates on state and local government.

• Conflicts among states from increased activism and conflicts hurt state ability to innovate.

• States in conflict over attracting new business and industry.

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Value of State and Local Governments • State and local not be the public’s scorn for social,

economic, and political problems. • More than 18.3 million state and local government

employees. • State and local government employees perform

diverse tasks. • Public resources are limited. 48 state legislatures are

limited by state statutes/constitutions to balance revenues and expenditures, and this relates to local governments. Revenues are declining.

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State and Local New Challenges • State and local administrators are responsive to public interest and

elected officials, clientele groups, and public interest lobbyists.

• Responsibilities • Objective responsibility-legal • Subjective responsibility- moral/ethical • Professional responsibility-professional expertise and standards

• Increased number of public administrators = increased importance of professional responsibility. Can lead to reduced attention to public interest.

• Growing number of state and local government employees = citizen dissatisfaction with government. They are transforming to results- orientation and The New Public Service orientation (Denhardt et al., 2014).

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Comparative Method

• Studying the differences between two, or more, units of analysis to explain policy and/or structural variance • Berkeley, CA was the first city to pass a tax on soda–

Why Berkeley? • Some localities provide curb-side recycling services

while others don’t – Why? • Is public education of the same quality in all states?

What would explain the variance?

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Studying the Basic Differences Across States and Localities

• Differences in state & local areas based on: • Demographics and Culture • History • Economics • Physical characteristics

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Political Culture and Political Participation

• Moralistic: high levels of political participation (MN, OR, WA, WI)

• Individualistic: moderate levels of political participation (IA, IN, OH)

• Traditionalistic: low levels of political participation (AL, GA, MS)

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A Network of Governments

• Policies of any level of government (national, state, or local) are intertwined with policies and politics of the other levels

• Interdependence

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“Laboratories of Democracy”

• Policy creativity and innovation

• Devolution • Policy responsibility • Financial independence

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Devolution and Localities

• External Constraints

• State regulations

• Internal Constraints

• Local needs

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Laboratories of Democracy

• Louis Brandeis • States are able to experiment with policy

• “New ways to solve old problems”

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Laboratories of Democracy in Action

• National policy initiated in the states: • Spam e-mail protection • “Do Not Call” registry • Medicare reform • Energy reform

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Federalism Issues to Watch

• Affordable Care Act • Immigration • Others

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Conclusion - Key Points

• States and localities directly impact your life • Comparative method and variance • Devolution and policymaking authority • Policy innovation

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