Texas federal system:

changes in federalism

Dual federalism—> Cooperative federalism —> Regulated federalism :

• Dual federalism

  • Federal and state governments largely take care of different issues and do not interact much

  • “Layer cake”

    • National gov 

    • State gov

• Cooperative federalism:

  • Federal and state gov work together and share responsibilities with grant-in-aid

    • “Marble cake”

      • Share some responsibilities 

• Regulated federalism:

  • Federal gov increasingly sets standards or requirements that states must follow 

  • Lyndon B johnson

• New federalism 

  • The attempts to return the power through

  • Advocated by Richard nixon 

Changes in federalism timeline:

• 1790s: 

  • Federal and state governments largely take care of different issues and do not interact much

• 1929 (great depression)

• 1933 (new deal)

  • Copoperative federalism 

    • Federal and state work  work together and share responsibilities with grant-in-aid

• 1937: 

  • Expanded interpretation of commerce clause

    • Commerce clause  (article I section 8) “( the congress shall have power…. ) to regulate commerce”

• 1960s

  • Civil rights movement and great society

• Regulated federalism

  • Federal gov increasingly sets standards or requirements that states must follow 

    • Preemption:

      • The principle that allows the national gov to override state and local actionbs in certain policy areas 

• 1964-65

  • Civil rights act and voting rights act

• 1970s 

  • Environmental and social regulation 

•  New federalism

  • The attpets to return state power to the states through devolution

    • Devolution:

      • Transferring of authority or responsibility for policy from the federal gov to state or local governments 

federalism and federal assitance:

• General revenue sharing: one unit of gov yields a portion of tax income to another unit of gov

• Block grant: money for a broader policy area, usually giving states more discretion

• Categorical grant: money for narrowly defined purpose, usually with more federal conditions 

• Unfunded mandate: a law of regulation requiring a state or local gov to perform certain actions w/o providing funding for fuufilling the requirement

powers of federal government

Enumerated powwers: specific powers in the constitution that are granted to federal gov

• Implied powers: enable congress to make the laws that are “necessary and proper” 

• Article I congress- section 8 Enumerated powers 

  • Clause 3 Commerce 

  • Clause 11 War powers

  • Clause 12 Army

  • Clause 13 navy

  
  

  • Clause 18 Necessary and Proper cause, implied powers 

    • “To make all laws which shall be necessary and proper”

    • Congres scan pass extra laws needed to do its job, even if those laws are not specifically written down word for word 

    • Example:

      •  federal highway act (1956)

      • The fair labor standards act (1938)

powers of federal government

example of implied powers

• Building and maintaining interstate transportation systems to support
  “commerce” and “national defense.”

  • Under the Federal-Aid Highway Act (1956), states build, own, and maintain
    the Interstate highways, and the federal government pays most of the cost
    through grants. (Article I Section 8 only gives Congress power to establish
    “Post offices and post roads.”)

• Creating a federal minimum wage as part of Congress’s power to regulate
  interstate commerce.

  • The Fair Labor Standards Act (1938) set the first federal minimum wage.
    (Necessary and Proper Clause + Commerce Clause)

What is being descibed:

• Federal gov increasingly provided categorical grants directly to local governments and community organizations, sometimes bypassing state governments

  • Advocated by president lyndon B johnson the great society in the 1960s 

creative federalism

What is being described?

• Federal gov increasingly pressures or contains states governments, sometimes through regulation, mandates, preemption, or strong financial incentives

  • Trump favored opening the economy during COVID-19

coercive federalism

What is being described?

• Federal-state conflict driven by partisan (a strong, committed supporter of a specific political party) polarization, with states resisting federal policiies through noncooperation, ligtigation, or political opposition

  • President Obama’s deferred action for parents of americans and lawful premanenent residents (DAPA) & deferred action for childhood arrivals (DACA) 

Fractious federalism

Federal grants as an incentive to influence state policy:

What is a matching grant?

The federal government contributes money in proportion to what the state spends

Federal grants as an incentive to influence state policy:

What is a conditional grant?

The states receive federal money only inf they follow particular federal requirements

What kind of grants were used in medicare and medicaid expansion by ACA, and a few other examples:

• MATCHING GRANTS:

  • medicaid (50-83%)

  • Federal-aid highways ((80/90%)

  • CHIP (childrens health insurance program) (65-85%)

  • FEMA (75-100%)

• MATCHING GRANT CHANGES HOW MUCH STATES SPEND

Conditional grant examples:

• medicaid expansion & medicaid 

• High way funds and drinking age (1984)

  • States lose part of their federal highway funds unless they set the drinking age to 21 (south dakota v. dole, 1987)

    • The court concluded that withoolding 5% of highway funds was onlyu “relatively mild encouragement.” not consitutional coercion

• The 55 mph speed limit (1974-1995)

  • Highway funds depended on states adopting a 55 mph speed limit (repeasled in 1995)

• Highway safety grant program (1966-current)

  • Fed funding provided to states and local entirties under specific requirements, compliance targets, or performance measures (e.g. seat belts, impaired driving, graduated driver 

• Medicaid:

  • States must Comply with Federal requirements regarding mandatory benefits eligibility rules and administration

• CHIP 

  •  states must submit a state plan and comply with Federal statutory and regulatory requirements 

• CONDTIONAL GRANTS CHANGES WHAT STATES DO

What grant changes what states do?

conditional grants

What grant changes how much states spend

matching grants

can matching and conditional grants overlap?

true

are matching and conditional grants mutually exclusive?

false

State Judicial Autonomy within Federalism:

Can states constitutions provide greater protection for individual rights than US constitution?

Yes.

 

The us consituaiton generally establishes a constitutional floor, while state constitutions may provide stronger protections for individual rights

• Texas state equal rights amendment (1972)

  • Equality under the law may not be denied because of sex race color creed or national origin

• US 5th amendment : due process

  • “Nor be deprived of life liberty or property with due process of law”

    • Prohibits the federal government from engaging in certain unconstitutional discrimination Bolling v.Sharpe (1954)

texas consitution protection for individual rights

texas equal right amendment (1972)

Equality under the law may not be denied because of sex race color creed or national origin

State judicial autonomy within federalism 

• Adequeate and independent state grounds

• A doctrine about when US supreme court will review a descision from a state court → limits the US supreme courts jurisdiction to review state court judgements 

• “If a states court judgement rests on state law that is both adequeate and independent of federal law, the US supreme court generally will not review that descision.”

  • Adequate: state-law ground is sufficient enough by itself to support the courts judgement

  • Independent: the decision rests on state law, not based on or intertwined with federal law 

• A supreme court review is generally unavaiable when a state court descision rests on state law that independently and suffciently supports the judgement

What is the …

doctrine about when US supreme court will review a descision from a state court → limits the US supreme courts jurisdiction to review state court judgements

Adequeate and independent state grounds

State judicial autonomy within federalism 

• Adequeate and independent state grounds

“If a states court judgement rests on state law that is…

both adequeate and independent of federal law, the US supreme court generally will not review that descision.”

• Adequate: state-law ground is sufficient enough by itself to support the courts judgement

• Independent: the decision rests on state law, not based on or intertwined with federal law

What does adequate mean in

“If a states court judgement rests on state law that is both adequeate and independent of federal law, the US supreme court generally will not review that descision.”

state-law ground is sufficient enough by itself to support the courts judgement

What does independent mean in

“If a states court judgement rests on state law that is both adequeate and independent of federal law, the US supreme court generally will not review that descision.”

•  the decision rests on state law, not based on or intertwined with federal law 

Adequeate and independent state grounds:

A supreme court review is generally unavaiable when a state court descision rests on….

state law that independently and suffciently supports the judgement 

Examples of

• Adequeate and independent state grounds

• Texas school finance 

• Texas schools relied heavily on local property taxes, so poor disrticts had less tax income.

  • San antonio ISD v. Rodriguez (1973):

    • Parents in san antiono district argued that the funding system violated the equal protection clause (the 14th amendment)

      • The U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5–4 that
        education is not a fundamental right under the
        U.S. Constitution, so the system is not
        unconstitutional

    • 
      

  • Edgewood ISD v Kirby (1989):

    • Parents sued under the Texas Constitution which requires an “efficient system of public free schools.” (Article VII, Section 1)

      • The Texas Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the funding system violated Texas Constitution Edgewood ISD could not appeal in U.S. Supreme Court

Examples of

State judicial autonomy within federalism 

• Adequeate and independent state grounds

(police search)

• The michigan and south dakota state constitutions provide greater search- and seisurre protection than 14th amendment (due process)

  • Michigan v. Long (1983):

    • The michigan supreme court cited both the 14th amendment and the michigan constitution, but it relied heavily on federal cases and never saif that the state constitution independently controlled the result

      • → the reasoning appeared to rest on federal law, the US supreme court revies the case and reverses

  
  

  • South sakota v. opperman (1976)`

    • The south dakora supreme court clealy relied on the south dajota constitution as an independent source

      • → because the judgement reset on state law alone, the US supreme court could not overturn it 

State judical autonomy within federalism :

• Adequeate and indeppentent state grounds

  • A doctrine about when the US supreme court will review a descicsion from a state court —> linits the US supreme courts jurisdiction to review state court judgements

• Supremacy clause 

  • Federal law is supreme over conflicting state laws and state court descisions → resolves condflicts between federal and state law 

What is the …….

Federal law is supreme over conflicting state laws and state court descisions → resolves condflicts between federal and state law 

supmremacy clause (State judical autonomy within federalism)

Q: Based on its reserved power (10th amendments) can a state secede from the united states?

• Texas v white (1869)

  • The supreme court held that states cannot secede from the United states on their own; the union is constitutionally permeanenty and separation could occur through revolution” or “consent of the states”

texas founding timeline

• 1789: US federal government began operation

• Texas as new part of spain

• 1810-1821: Mexican War of independence —> mexico won

• 1824: Mexican constitution created a federal system —-> texas became part of Coahuilia y Tejas

• 1827: constitutrion of coahuilia y tejas 

• Disputes over immigration and slavery Federalism vs. Centralization 

• 1835: Texas revolution

• 1836: Texas declared independent from mexico 

  • Constitution of republic of texas also during this year

• 1836-1845: Republic of texas 

• 1845: United states annexed Texas —> texas became the 28th state

  • Texas state constitution of 1845

    • Converted texas from a republic into a U.S. state (adapted Texas gov to US statehood)

    • Texas ceded defense-related property to the US but retained ownership of all public lands 

• 1846-1848: Mexican-american war

• 1861: Texas secceded from the united states and join the confederacy

  • Texas state Constitution of 1861

    • Mostly retained the 1845 governmental structure

    • Reference change: the US —> the confederate State of America

    • Reinforced the legal protection of slavery 

    • 1861–1865: american civil war 

    • 1866:  Texas constitution of 1866

      • Predisental reconstruction:

        • Placed mild demands upon th existing power structure 

        • Acknowleded the abolition of slavery

        • Freed men were allowed to own property and to sue

        • Did NOT give Black texans full political rights such as voting or officeholding

        • 13th amendment placed mild demands upon the existing power structure 

    • Reconstruction reshaped texas government

      • 13th amendment (1865) of US constitution: slavery abolished 

      • 14th amendment 1868 of US constitution: citizenship + due process + equal protection

  • 1869: Texas constitution of 1869

    • Congressional reconstuction

      • Imposed stricter requiements

      • The reconstruction program put forward by radical republicans in congress imposed stricter requirements 

      • Extended the voting right and political equality to black men

      • Created a stronger, more centralized state government weith greeted executive authority 

  • 1870: texas readmitted to representation in the union

  • Texas Constitution of 1876:

    • Four goals of this constitution 

      • Stron popular control of gov

      • Limits to power

      • Restrained to spending

      • Portion of agrarian(agricultutre) interests, particularly small farmers 

        • Grange: militant farmers’ movement of late nineteenth century that fought for improved conditions for farmers 

  • Everytime texas went through a major change in sovereignty or potlicial regime it needed a new constitutional framework 

Texas in federal system:

Question: 14th amendment guarantees equal protection of thee laws. COuld people be treated as “equal” while being kept separate?

• Sweatt v. Painter (1950)

  • The supreme court ruled that Texas separate law school for black studenrts was not truly equal, dealing a major blow to the “separte but equal” doctrine 

Question:

• Which level of government - federal or state- has authority to regulate abortion?

• Dobbs v. jackson womens health organization (2022)

  • Supreme court held that the US consitution does not protect a right to abortion and returned the issue “to the people and their elected representatives.”

  • (before 2022, roe v wade (1973) and planned parenthood v casey (1992) imposed federal limits on how far states could restrict abortion.)

  • Supreme court interpretations can change over time even when the consitutuinal text remains the same 

Can Supreme court interpretations can change over time even when the consitutuinal text remains the same 

true