Report Title:

Federal Mandates

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.C.R. NO.

127

TWENTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2001

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 
   


HOUSE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

REQUESTING THE LEGISLATIVE REFERENCE BUREAU TO UPDATE ITS SURVEY OF FEDERALLY MANDATED STATE PROGRAMS.

 

 

WHEREAS, federal mandates that impose costs on the states are increasing at an alarming rate, in terms of frequency as well as cost; and

WHEREAS, the explosion of federally-mandated programs began during the latter half of the 1980s when the federal government, struggling with new spending priorities and a rapidly expanding federal budget deficit, chose to require the states to finance, administer, and implement these new and costly responsibilities; and

WHEREAS, in 1990 alone, the federal government imposed at least twenty additional mandates on the states at an aggregate cost of more than $15,000,000,000, to the states; and

WHEREAS, these mandates included requiring states to enforce new standards for smog and acid rain reduction, enforce new transportation requirements for hazardous waste, expand state Medicaid coverage for certain households and individuals, and enforce driver's license revocation requirements for certain drug offenses; and

WHEREAS, the 1991 Budget Reconciliation Act was another source of "hidden costs" to the states--where approximately $13,300,000,000 in unfunded obligations have been passed on from the federal government to the states; and

WHEREAS, in addition to these new mandates imposed on the states by the federal government, state governments must also contend with the never-ceasing problem of keeping pace with the current service requirements of ongoing federal-state programs that require state matching funds for federal grants; and

WHEREAS, while the merits of each program should be examined on an individual basis, these mandates are almost always costly to the states, and inappropriately intrude upon or preempt the rights and powers of state government; and

WHEREAS, forcing the states to comply with and contribute to the cost of implementing federally-developed programs and initiatives offers the federal government a convenient method of taking credit for expanding and developing new programs while exporting the burden of cost and administration to the states; and

WHEREAS, due to the fact that a significant number of states are now facing serious budgetary problems, the current federal-state partnership arrangement for the administration of federally-mandated programs should be reexamined; and

WHEREAS, the Legislative Reference Bureau has issued three previous reports in 1995, 1997, and 1998 on federally mandated programs in a continuing effort to provide the Legislature with a better understanding of the complex and difficult issues involving such programs and their impact on the Hawaii state government; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2001, the Senate concurring, that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to update its survey of federally-mandated state programs; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the survey is requested to cover the following:

(1) Federally-mandated programs under the General Appropriations Act of 2001 for fiscal year 2001-2002, listed under the program identifications; and

(2) The operating funds appropriated or allocated to implement the mandated programs, including the funding amounts and permanent position counts under the applicable means of financing;

and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Legislative Reference Bureau is requested to submit the results of its survey to the Legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2002; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a certified copy of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Acting Director of the Legislative Reference Bureau.

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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