Shifting of Power From Washington Is Seen Under Bush
...good news for elot
By ROBERT PEAR
ASHINGTON, Jan. 6 — One thing is already clear about how President-elect George W. Bush intends to govern the nation: state and local officials will have far more leeway to shape and operate the full range of federal social, regulatory and public works programs.
Across the spectrum of domestic policy issues, from health and welfare to education, transportation and environmental protection, the new administration promises to shift power from the federal government to the states, and state officials of both parties said they expected the promises to be kept.
As governor of Texas, Mr. Bush often declared, "Texans can run Texas," and aides said that motto indicated the respect he would show state officials — an attitude that is also reflected in his choices for posts in the cabinet and on the White House staff.
In interviews this week, governors and other state officials said they expected Mr. Bush to work closely with the states and to give them more discretion in deciding how to use federal money and meet the goals of federal laws.
Ari Fleischer, a spokesman for Mr. Bush, said the meeting was an early sign of how Mr. Bush would govern. "He believes deeply that many of the nation's answers can be found in the state capitals," Mr. Fleischer said.
The people chosen to head the federal agencies that manage social, regulatory and public works programs have extensive experience in state and local government. Some of them have already spoken out about the need to give states more leeway to run those programs as they see fit.
Even people once skeptical of the states now see many of them as engines of progressive social policy.
Alison P. Kaufman, chief Washington lobbyist for the State of Connecticut, said: "We are very optimistic about the relationship we will have with the new administration. Governor Bush has always had an open ear to all the governors. We don't expect a complete turnaround, but the philosophy of the new administration will be much more open to consultation with the states, to flexibility for the states."
Liberals and Democrats said that was not necessarily a bad thing. In recent years, they noted, they have often had more success at the state level than in the Republican-controlled Congress.
Joseph A. Dear, chief of staff to the governor of Washington, Gary Locke, a Democrat, said: "States don't want to be treated like just another stakeholder, another interest group. That approach drives them crazy. If the new administration finds a way to accord states the recognition that they are political entities, not interest groups, and that they can be trusted, that might be very beneficial and could improve the performance of government in delivering services to taxpayers."
Mr. Bush and his appointees can use a variety of instruments to shift power to the states. Under Section 1115 of the Social Security Act, they can grant waivers for experimental health and welfare programs. They can write new regulations, eliminating some of the strings attached to federal aid. They can consolidate federal grants earmarked for specific purposes.
In his first inaugural address as governor, in 1995, Mr. Bush promised to revive the 10th Amendment, which, he said, "gives to the states all powers not specifically granted to the federal government." His choice for secretary of the interior, Gale A. Norton, often invoked the amendment when, as attorney general of Colorado, she battled with the Environmental Protection Agency on air pollution rules and other issues. |
