William Livingston Speaks on the Federal Government Performing State Functions

“Perhaps the year I spent living among the Iroquois at the age of 14 has influenced my thinking on the importance of decentralizing the functions of government.  Just as when I argued for the State militias at our previous convention, I continue to believe in balance between State and Federal governments.  Remember the compromise we made on the subject of slavery when my personal beliefs about the need to abolish slavery were subordinated to the need to establish a federal government that did not dictate to the States but rather established a framework of law that provided a legal mechanism for future emancipation of the slaves.  Today we need to be similarly concerned for the rights of the States to take different approaches to solving their problems.

“Many of the current functions of the Federal Government were undertaken based on the argument that efficiency can be gained by a single entity performing tasks rather than each State independently doing these functions.  There is validity to this argument and, should all the States agree, the Federal government should be able to perform such functions – even if they are appropriately State functions.

An issue arises when one or more of the States disagree.  If the majority of States wish the Federal government to perform a State function in order to achieve efficiency, consistency, or other benefits, the Federal government should perform that function for those States.  However the entire cost of the effort should be borne by the States that agreed to the support and no cost should go to other States regardless of whether or not they benefit from the function.

The Executive Branch of each State should make the determination of whether they wish the Federal Government to perform functions on their behalf, and in no case should the Federal government take any such action unless the action is requested and funded by a majority of States.  Examples of possible cooperative efforts are welfare programs, unemployment programs, standardized testing for students, etc.