Significant facts
In 1994, Congress pass a bill, with President approval, that withheld ten percent of federal highway funds from states who fail to penalize drug offenders by suspending the drivers license for six months. A condition the federal government placed on the grants for highway funds is states’ must suspend the drivers license for any drug conviction, regardless of severity, including marijuana possession. However, states do have the ability to “opt out” by passing their own state law stating they will not suspend drivers licenses for such violations. The clause was used by Congress in the hope that states would not want to be recognized for allowing drug offenders to keep their license, but most states opted out.
Issue
Both California and Utah sued the Secretary of Transportation for the release of funds. California legislature challenged the federal law in light of the withholding of federal highway funds were not related to the suspension of drivers licenses, and the “opt out” clause was not a rational or uniform national policy. California’s legislature is arguing this requirement is to initiate debate between the governor and the state legislature. The requirement for the governor and legislature to agree or forcing the legislature majority to override a gubernatorial veto violates the state’s sovereignty basic function and specifically the absence of a uniform national policy.
Utah passes a law that suspends drug offenders drivers license for all drug violations, however, Utah has also decriminalized the possession of small amounts of marijuana and redefined offense as a misdemeanor: “burning without a permit. The Secretary of Transportation believes Utah’s motive to decriminalize and redefine the offense vio...
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... California until the state complies with the federal condition placed on the highway funds, however, the constitutional issue concerning the requirement that states’ debate on whether to “opt out” or not be removed as a condition upon the receipt of funds. By removing this option, it will create a uniform national policy that is applicable to every state. If this condition is not removed it is recommended that California receive their federal grant moneys. Secondly, Utah has complied with the regulation and therefore the federal highway funds should be released. The Secretary of Transportation is infringing upon the state’s sovereignty after Utah has complied with the condition placed upon the federal funds.
Works Cited
The United States Constitution
Epstein, Lee, and Thomas Walker. Institutional Powers and Constraints. 8. Thousand Oaks: CQ Press, 2013. Print.
Baldridge, J.V., Curtis, D.V., Ecker, G.P., & Riley, G.L. (1977). Alternative models of governance in higher education. In G.L. Riley and J.V. Baldridge. Governing academic organization. Berkeley, CA: McCutchan Publishing.
Harvey Parnell once said that “[at] one time public roads in Arkansas were so bad that the wild geese, honking southward, would go around them.” In 1927, Parnell, as Lieutenant Governor, helped get the legislation for the Martineau Road Plan passed in the State Legislature. This legislation dealt with the improvement of the state highway system. Parnell also proposed the building of roads in the rural areas connecting outlying communities with the main state highway. Parnell, and Martineau before him, worked to make sure that the new highway system would not be paid for by personal property taxes but by the taxes on gasoline and vehicle licenses. This way the people paying for the new highway would be the people who actually use it. As ...
If we are going to be honest, the roadways for the state have NEVER been free. We have paid both state and federal gas tax for decades, now, and we also pay various taxes and licensing fees on our cars and our right to drive which go directly to the highway department in order to maintain the roads. Unfortunately, as we will soon see, the monies raised in this way cannot keep up with the state transportation departments needs, for a variety of reasons.
Wilson, James Q., John J. DiIulio, Jr., and with Meena Bose. American Government: Institutions & Policies. 12th ed. Boston, MA.: Wadsworth Publishing, 2011.
To define the terminology of federalism to a simplistic way is the sharing of sovereignty between the national government and the local government. It is often described as the dual sovereignty of governments between the national and the local to exert power in the political system. In the US it is often been justified as one of the first to introduce federalism by the ‘founding fathers’ which were developed in order to escape from the overpowered central government. However, federalism in the United States is hitherto uncertain where the power lies in the contemporary political system. In this essay I will outline and explain how power relationship alternates between states and federal government. Moreover I will also discuss my perspective by weighing the evidence based upon resources. Based on these resources, it will aid me to evaluate the recent development in the federal-state relationship.
National Conference of State Legislatures. Wendy Underhill , 26 Mar. 2014. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
The opposing argument serves as a perfect gateway to the topic of relationship between Federal and State government. In the United States, the Supremacy Clause serves...
Doug Ducey, Governor of Arizona: He has the ability to veto or sign your planned bill. Ducey is in favor of increasing the transparency of forfeiture reports submitted by law enforcement. On March 23, 2015 Ducey required law enforcement agencies to submit quarterly civil forfeiture reports to county and city governments (Phillips & Mahoney, 2015). Originally, law enforcement agencies where only require to submit reports to the ACJC and the federal government (Phillips & Mahoney, 2015).
"State Medical Marijuana Laws." Legislative News, Studies and Analysis. National Conference of State Legislatures, 2014. Web. Apr. 2014. .
Up until 1968 there was little complaint on what the Texas Legislature and Texas Education Agency had to say about school finances. It was in 1968 that San Antonio’s Independent School District (SAISD) filed the first lawsuit against the state; this particular lawsuit was filed because SAISD felt the fundin...
The collection of taxes is an important concurrent power delegate to both state and national powers. Taxes are collected in various ways such as the tax on certain food items, and other items. Both state and national powers have to enforce and pass laws. If one body of the system does not enforce the law then the other will. Just like the legalization of marijuana, this is a controversial topic but is a very important example in today’s events. Since there are certain states in the United States of America that have already legalized marijuana the national powers can overlook the state laws and take federal action against those breaking the national law. The establishment of courts is an essential concurrent power that is needed in both state and national powers. As well as highways are needed for the people and national powers. Highways are also made to be convenient for both parties and to accommodate the wellbeing of the people. For example, the drinking age was once 18 and the states then suddenly rose the drinking age to 21 years of age. This accommodation was made to protect the younger kids that were drinking and driving and put the rate of deaths on the highways down. Of course the national powers had a sort of agreement with the state powers so that the funds would still be available. This specific mandate is called a unfunded mandate, one of the congressional strategies to influence state policies (Barbour and Wright, 87-88.) Although the powers are said to be concurrent there are always loopholes to what the national government wants from the state
When states try to find ways to restrain from non-essential areas, unfunded federal mandates are at the top of the list. These mandates often force state and local governments to spend much more than necessary on everything from medical care to welfare to road building. A complex web of federal programs bind together the tree treasuries of the local, state, and federal government. As much as 25 percent of state budgets now comes from the federal government, and up to 60 percent of some state budgets is spent on joint federal-state programs.
The California Narcotic Officers' Association consists of over 7,000 criminal justice professionals who are dedicated to protecting the public from the devastating effects of substance abuse, whether cocaine, methamphetamine, or marijuana. We have seen first hand the debilitating and often tragic results, both psychologically and physically, of those who choose intoxication as part of their lifestyle. We have studied the medicinal use of marijuana issue, compiling information from medical experts to present to those we are sworn to protect. It is our firm belief that any movement that liberalizes or legalizes substance abuse laws would set us back to the days of the '70s when we experienced this country's worst drug problem and the subsequent consequences. In the '80s, through the combined and concerted efforts of law enforcement, prevention and treatment professionals, illicit drug use was reduced by 50 percent. Teenagers graduating from the class of 1992 had a 50 percent less likely chance of using drugs than those who graduated in the class of 1979.
Marijuana use and possession has been illegal across all states since the passing of the Marijuana Tax Act of 1937. However, its usage and abuse were relegated more to the minority populations and had little to do with most of mainstream America. Laws were in place to punish offenders and since most were minorities at the time, there was little to no sympathy for the sentences being handed out from the courts. The outcry from those in mainstream America didn’t come until the 1970’s during President Richard Nixon’s proclaimed “War on Drugs.” This followed a massive increase in drug use during the 1960’s. People blamed the music of the era, politics and mostly the war in Vietnam for the sudden spike in users and ultimately abusers. The difference was that this time it wasn’t just isolated to the minority communities. Educated Caucasian students and even professionals had begun to use drugs and were very open about it. Thi...
Despite the 1976 ruling by the federal government that marijuana has “no acceptable medical use”, sixteen states have passed medical marijuana laws that allow for patient use o...