Hearings on the Federal Role, Commission Report
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Hearings on the Federal Role ADVIsOnvCOYYIsslO* on I*TsnQOVsnYYsllTAL nsl.ATIOns Washingtoin, D.C. 20575 l October 1980 A-87 Preface T he Advisory Commission on Intergovernmen- sponsibilities, and revenues among the tal Relations (ACIR) was established by Public several levels of government. Law 380, which was passed by the first session of Pursuant to its statutory responsibilities, the the 86th Congress and approved by the President Commission from time to time has been requested on September 24, 1959. Section 2 of the act sets by the Congress or the President to examine par- forth ~the following declaration of purpose and ticular problems impeding the effectiveness of the specific responsibilities for the Commission: federal system. The 1976 renewal legislation for Sec. 2. Because the complexity of mod- General Revenue Sharing, Public Law 94-488, ern life intensifies the need in a federal mandated in Section 145 that the Commission: form of government for the fullest coop- . study and evaluate the American fed- eration and coordination of activities be- eral fiscal system in terms of the alloca- tween the levels of government, and be- tion and coordination of public resources cause population growth and scientific among federal, state, and local govern- developments portend an increasingly ments including, but not limited to, a complex society in future years, it is es- study and evaluation of: (1) the alloca- sential that an appropriate agency be es- tion and coordination of taxing and tablished to give continuing attention to spending authorities between levels of intergovernmental problems. government, including a comparison of It is intended that the Commission, in other federal government systems. (5) the performance of its duties, will: forces likely to affect the nature of the (1) bring together representatives of American federal system in the short- the federal, state, and local governments term and long-term future and possible for the consideration of common prob- adjustments to such system, if any, which lems. may be desirable, in light of future de- (5) encourage discussion and study at velopments. an early stage of emerging public prob- lems that are likely to require intergov- The study, “The Federal Role in tbe Federal ernmental cooperation; System: The Dynamics of Growth,” with which (6) recommend, within the framework this hearing dealt, is part of the Commission’s re- of the Constitution, the most desirable sponse to this mandate. Staff were directed to: [a) allocation of governmental functions, re- examine the present role of the federal govern- ii merit in the American federal system; (b) review and now serving witb the Department of Public theoretical perspectives on American federalism, Affairs, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, the assignment of functions, and governmental MN; and Neal R. Peirce, consulting editor, Na- growth; and (c) identify historical and political tional Journal, Washington, DC--on the summary patterns in the development and expansion of na- findings and initial draft recommendations con- tional governmental domestic activities. sidered by the Commission at its 69th meeting This hearing was held to elicit the views of four held on March 13-14, 1980. Hence, it serves as intergovernmental authorities-William G. Col- part of the Commission’s response to the Congres- man, consultant and ACIR’s former executive di- sional mandate. rector; Prof. Daniel J. Elazar, director of the Center for the Study of Federalism, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA; Prof. Arthur N&din, a former Abraham D. Beam Commission member and Mayor of Minneapolis Chairman Acknowledgments T.his volume was prepared by the governmental demon, Gov. Bruce Babbitt, State Sen. Jason Boe, structure and functions section of the Commis- Supervisor Lynn G. Cutler, Gov. John N. Dalton, sion. Major responsibility for the staff work was Freeholder Doris W. Dealamen. Rep. L. H. Foun- shared by David R. Beam, Cynthia C. Colella, end tain, the Honorable Bill G. King, Mayor Tom Bruce D. McDowell. Lyon C. Schwalje assisted in Moody, Mayor John P. Rousekis, and the Honor- editing and provided secretarial support. able Mary Eleanor Wall, as well as Deputy Mayor This~ hearing focused on the draft recommen- Ray Remy of Los Angeles, representing Mayor dations [see Appendix A) presented for Commis- Thomas Bradley, end Assist. Sec. Donna Shalala, sion consideration and was designed to help fa- representing Secretary of Housing and Urban De- cilitate its deliberations on these proposals on velopment Moon Landrieu. March 14, 1980. Therefore, special thanks go to The Commission gratefully acknowledges the the four witnesses who helped make this pro- assistance and cooperation of the witnesses, both ceeding the lively and informative event that it in preparing their statements end in editing their was: William G. Colman, Prof. Daniel Elazar, Prof. respective portions of the recorded trtiscript. Arthur Naftalin, and Neal R. Peirce. Commission Full responsibility for the accuracy of the hearing members attending the hearing included Chair- record rests, of course, with the Commission and man Abraham D. Beame, State Sen. Fred E. An- its staff. Wayne F. Anderson Executive Director David B, Walker Assistant Director iv Contents Chairman’s Opening Remarks . 3 StaffPresentations . 5 Statement Presented By Professor Artlmr Naftalin, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota . 15 Statement Presented By William G. Colman, Consultant........................................................ 23 Statement Presented By Professor Daniel J. Elazar, Director, Center for the Study of Federalism, TempleUniversity . 29 Statement Presented By Neal R. Peirce. Syndicated Columnist, Conkibuting Editor, National Journal . 39 Appendix A: The Federal Role in the Federal System: Analysis of Basic Findings, Key Questions Raised, and Recommendations . 45 Appendix B: Reshaping the National Government’s Role in the Federal System Formal Statement of William G. Colman, Consultant............................................ 73 Appendix C: Is the Federal System Still There? Formal Statement of Professor Daniel J. Elazar, Director, Center for the Study of Federalism, Temple University.. 83 A Hearing on The Federal Role in The Federal System Conducted by the Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations March 13,198O New Executive Office Building, Room 2010 17th and Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC Chairman’s Opening Remarks B efore we have the hearing on this very impor- tant major subject-“The Federal Role in the Fed- eral System”-I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome to the meeting two new Commission members: Gov. John N. Dalton, who had been ap- pointed prior to this meeting but couldn’t attend the last one, and Ms. Mary Eleanor Wall, who is the newly appointed public member of the Com- mission. We welcome you here. We know that we’re going to get a great deal of help from both of you. The program for today, incidentally, does+ not require a quorum because a hearing under our rules is permissible if two members are present. The plan first provides for a staff briefing of this long study, and then we will hear from four wit- nesses whom we’ve asked to appear, each of whom is expert in the field and is very well- known to the Advisory Commission of Intergov- ernmental Relations (ACIR). They will be intro- duced as they are called, and each will make a presentation of about 10 or 15 minutes, or what- ever time that is necessary. Following each pre- sentation, discussions and questions from Com- mission members will be appropriate. It is expected that no action will be taken at this meeting in connection with this subject, but we will meet tomorrow at 9:OO a.m., 6s is indicated in the docket book. That meeting will take place in the Rayburn Building, Room 2154. Now, if there’s no question that anyone wants to ask, we can begin by having the staff, led by Dave Walker and followed by Bruce McDowell, Cindy Colella, and Dave Beam, make a brief pre- sentation on the subject of the federal role in the federal system. 3 Staff Presentations INTRODUCTION BY DAVID B. WALKER Mr. Chairman, members of the Commission. 1x1approximately 40 minutes, we’d like to high- light two years of work. This will be done in four parts. In a moment Bruce McDowell will high- light major findings as we’ve discovered them, using some graphics that have been passed out to you. Subsequently, Cindy Colella will suyarize a very difficult chapter that she did and which you have received, describing the process, and political dynamics by which the federal role has become what it is. This is largely an input type of analysis that Cindy will get into. Next Dave Beam will highlight the outputs and some of the criteria relating to functional assignmentthat we’ve looked at and made judgments on. Finally, there will be a brief windup on my part. At this point I’ll turn it over to Bruce McDowell, who will begin to highlight the graphics that you have in front of you. PRESENTATION BY BRUCE D. MCDOWELL This is a little booklet entitled “Briefing on In- dicators of Federal Gmwth.” I’ll :o through it quite quickly, with the idea of simply orienting you to some of the data that we have available. If these data seem appropriate during your discus- sion tomorrow, we can go into it in more depth, and I’ll be happy to answer any questions that might be pertinent. 5 This is a briefing on Chapter 2 of Volume I of If we look at federal employment per thousand this series-A Crisis of Confidence and Compe- population, it’s been declining for soma, time. If tence. Chapter 2 is one of three chapters that was we look at it in terms of per million dollars of mailed to you in a separate package, at about the outlays of the federal government, it’s really gone same time as your docket book.