Our Founding Fathers split governmental power between the federal government and state and local governments. This concept is known as “Federalism”. 

Federalism is a compromise of sorts between the supreme national government which the Founders had experienced/observed in England and the supreme state/local government which they implemented via the Articles of Confederation. The Founders felt like the unchecked power of the national government in England had led to tyranny. But, the unchecked power of the state and local governments under the Articles of Confederation resulted in an impotent national government. The Constitutional Convention convened to address the problems with the Articles of Confederation–ultimately replacing them with the Constitution.

The United States Constitution delegates certain powers–for example, the power to coin money, the power to declare war and the power to establish a Post Office–to the federal government. Powers not delegated to the federal government “are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”

I view the balance between the power of the federal government and the powers of state and local government like a pendulum. It has swung to one side or the other at different times in our country’s history. For example, the pendulum had swung too far in favor of state and local government power and too far away from federal government power in the years prior to the Civil War. 

My view on the here and now is that the “Federalism Pendulum” has swung too far in favor of federal government power and away from state and local government power. There is no reason why Idaho land use, water-rights and wildlife issues should be decided by bureaucrats two thousand miles away in Washington, D.C.! Idahoans should chart Idaho’s course when it comes to Idaho’s families, Idaho’s children and Idaho’s way of life.

When I take part in the legislative sessions of 2021 and 2022, I will do so with a commitment to the idea that decisions that effect Idahoans lives are better made in state and local government (or by Idaho individuals) than by federal government bodies.