STATE & LOCAL GOVERNMENT OUTLINE
CHAPTER ONE
I. Focus Topics (Class notes cover very well)
a. Const’l Limits of the Authority of States over Local Governments & Hunter pg. 28 – 37
b. Progressive Era History of State & Local Government Reform
c. Equal Protection pg. 38 and Due Process pg. 40 – Start pg. 37
d. Differences between Federal and State Law Conceptions of the Doctrine
II. Expanded
a. Federal Government pg. 3
i. Government of limited power as defined by Constitution with no express constitutional authority to intervene or participate in state or local government matters
ii. Exercise over state and local government via Congress comes from:
1. Spending power
2. Power to regulate interstate commerce
3. Power to adopt laws to implement 14th Amendment
iii. The Politics of federal intervention – change over history
1. Changing demographics has altered the way Congress spends on state and local – aide has restructured to reduce federal influence
iv. Affect of Federal financial assistance on state and local government
1. States must designate a single agency to administer federal assistance
2. Local government – also have special units with statutory and fiscal power to administer federally aided programs.
3. Affects state and local budgets and spending priorities
a. Ex: Civil rights, equal opportunity, minimum wage, maximum hour requirements
b. State Government
i. Structure and Function – Similarities and Differences from Fed
1. Difference
a. State has plenary, not limited authority
b. Possess full residual authority of governmental power, which they delegated up to federal government in the federal Constitution, and which they can delegate down to local governments through state constitution and state statues
c. See. Pg. 4 paragraph for examples
d. Must less centralized – Pres v. Governor (bottom pg. 4)
i. State governors usually weaker than President
1. Note: Governors can line item veto budget items passed by legislature (unlike Pres)
ii. Major reforms have strengthened governors
e. State Legislatures
i. Legislature leadership is critical and many times they have more power than their congressional counterparts and committee chairs
f. Power shift from state to federal government
2. State Constitution
a. Difference from federal constitution pg. 5 bottom
i. Limited v. plenary
ii. More specific – listing of requirements and delegated authority affects the authority of state legislators to enact laws
iii. Do not need to draw authority from state constitution – but they can specify how delegated authority can be exercised
b. Similar
i. Prescribe basic government structure for state, delegate authority to state legislature and provide for organization of local governments
c. Home Rule Provision
i. State constitution specify powers of local governments, usually through home rule provision that confers home rule authority on local governments that adopt charters
c. State Government – Legislative Power: Grant v. Limitation (More similarities and differences)
i. Problem – Deals with population discrimination – See later chapter
ii. Role of State Constitutions as a limit on the state legislature
1. Utah School Boards Assoc v. Utah State Board of Ed pg. 8-13
a. Constitution’s failure to describe the full extent of leg’s power is critical to the result
iii. Notes and Questions pg. 13
1. The power of plenary legislative power
a. Important principles
i. State legislatures have plenary power
ii. Grant of power from the state constitution is not necessary
iii. State constitution is only a limit on legislative power
b. Two types of Constitutional provisions when considering limitations in a state constitution on state legislative power
i. Explicit delegation of legislative authority
ii. Limitation on how legislative authority can be exercised – not delegation of legislative authority
2. Expressio Unius
a. Holds that a delegation of authority must be found within the statute – mention of one thing implies the exclusion of another
b. Not applied to state constitution
3. Conflicts in agency jurisdiction
a. Limit-not-grant rule/Limitation v. Grant Doctrine
i. Often applied to conflicts in jurisdiction between state agencies
ii. Doctrine does not need to find constitutional authority for a statute, but only need to determine whether it “clearly violates” a constitutional prohibition
b. Note: Later chapters review traditional rule that courts must strictly construe statutory authority delegated to municipality corporation
c. Also an issue under constitutional home rule provisions (See Chap 3)
4. Qualifications for Office pg. 15
a. Most courts hold legislature may not add qualifications for office
5. Debt Limitations
a. Principle that state legislature power is plenary except for special constitutional prohibitions has served to support validity of financing methods that do not fit constitutional mold
iv. Other constitutional limitation on state legislation – Delegation of Power and Special Legislation (See Chap 9)
1. Delegation of Power
a. Implicit constitutional limitation – prohibits delegation of legislative power to non-legislative agencies
b. State Delegation to State administrative agency
i. Carry out program authorized by state (ex: financial support to population over 1 million)
ii. Rule – Legislature has unconstitutionally delegated legislative power to t
ference to each other, if upon election the majority of the votes cast in the territory comprised within the limits of both cities favor consolidation, and allowed even though the majority of the votes cast in one of the cities oppose it. Majority of Pittsburgh voted for annexation while majority of Alleghany were against.
2. Issue 1 – Impairment of the obligation of a contract between Allegheny and Pittsburgh, and Allegheny only to be for governmental purposes of that city and legislative attempt to subject them to taxes of enlarged city violates Art I of US Const.
a. Argument – This is based on idea that there is a contract between the citizens and taxpayers of a municipality corporation and corporation itself that citizens and taxpayers only taxed for uses of that corporation
b. Held – Inconsistent with nature of municipality corporations. Pg. 29
3. Issue 2 – Act deprives plaintiff of their property without due process of law by subjecting it to additional taxation that would result from consolidation. Manner of due process violated – permitted the voters of the larger city to overpower the voters of the smaller city and compel union without their consent.
a. Held:
i. Municipality Corp definition and definition of powers vested
ii. No right by contract or otherwise in the unaltered or continued existence and nothing in Fed Const that protects them from injurious consequences
iii. Holding not extended beyond property held and used for government purposes
1. Distinction between property owned by municipality corporations in their public capacity v. owned by them in their private capacity pg. 30
iii. Notes and Questions pg. 31
1. Effect of Hunter – Blocks ligation by local governments that challenge state legislation under the federal Constitution.
a. Changes Today on Hunter
i. Court can invalidate federal legislation that interfere with reserved power of states under 10th Amendment
ii. Ambiguity about constitutional basis for Hunter – review of lack of capacity of municipalities to sue State
2. Effect on Fed Constitution on state and local government structure
a. Majority – Hunter is an absolute bar to litigation over federal constitutional issues
