What Did Newt Gingrich Declare About Federalism In 1994 What Did Newt Gingrich Say about Federalism in 1994?
In 1994, Newt Gingrich released the “Contract with America,” a package of ten legislative initiatives that he and other newly-elected Republican congressmembers promised to pass. One of the more controversial aspects of this Contract was its endorsement of returning government control and services to the states, which proponents referred to as “federalism.” With this in mind, let's take a look at what Newt Gingrich declared concerning federalism.
Empowering the States
One of the key components of federalism is the idea of empowering states to have greater control over their own laws and regulations. In the Contract with America, Newt Gingrich proposed several different initiatives that would move power back to the states. One such initiative was the “Personal Responsibility Act,” which would have instituted a requirement that any household receiving welfare benefits had to be limited, in scope, to a two-year period. The idea being that after those two years, the responsibility for any additional welfare benefits would rest on the states. This would have meant that states could, at their own discretion, pursue different types of welfare policy that could better fit the needs of their populations. Gingrich also proposed a number of other initiatives that would have shifted control and authority to state governments. These included the “Steelcase Amendment,” which would have allowed states to opt-out of certain pieces of federal legislation, and the “Unfunded Mandates Reform Act,” which would have put in place restrictions on the federal government's ability to impose mandates on states without providing them with the necessary funds.
Reducing Federal Spending
Gingrich and other members of the Contract with America also proposed several other initiatives that were intended to reduce the amount of money the federal government spent on state and local governments. The core of these initiatives was the “Government Reform Act,” which was proposed in order to further reduce the amount of money spent on federal programs. The Government Reform Act would have reduced the size of federal departments, limited the government's ability to issue regulations without a vote by Congress, and made it more difficult for federal agencies to implement new regulations until after Congress had had an opportunity to review them. All of these reforms were, in theory, designed to reduce the amount of money the federal government spent on state and local governments.
Decreasing Federal Power
As discussed above, one of the key elements of the Contract with America was a reduction in the power of the federal government over state and local governments. This was designed to ensure that states had the authority to make decisions based on their own needs, rather than those dictated by Washington. To this end, the Contract with America called for the creation of a “Federalism Commission,” which would be tasked with looking into any areas where federal law was encroaching on the rights of states. In addition, the Contract with America called for the repeal of several regulatory acts that had previously been used by the federal government to prevent states from exercising their own autonomy. These regulations included those related to the environment, education, and health care. By doing so, the Contract with America sought to reduce the power of the federal government over the states and return some of that responsibility to the states themselves.
Conclusion
The Contract with America was, without a doubt, a highly controversial set of proposals. However, when examining what Newt Gingrich proposed regarding federalism, it becomes clear that there was an effort to return power and control back to the state governments. The Contract proposed initiatives that would limit the reach of the federal government, reduce federal spending, and increase the autonomy of states. While this may have been a difficult pill to swallow at the time, it is nevertheless an example of how our federal system of government can be reworked to better suit the needs of citizens.
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