State and Federal Laws Flashcards
Home Rule States
In some states, known as home rule states, an article or amendment to the state constitution grants cities, municipalities, and/or counties the ability to pass laws to govern themselves as they see fit.
Dillon’s Rule
40 of the 50 states apply the principle known as Dillon’s Rule in some form to determine the bounds of a municipal government’s legal authority. Dillon’s rule is the principle that cities, towns, and counties have no powers other than those assigned to them by state governments. Sometimes, there can be home rule for some jurisdictions (say, townships) and Dillon’s rule for others (cities established by charter).
State Gov. Influence on Local Gov.
State governments grant police power to local governments (which allow them to zone); state governments also have a lot of influence over local government (e.g. they give them much more money than the federal government). Planners do not enact laws; they advise on but do not exercise the power of eminent domain, and they do not commit public funds for capital improvement projects. that is the responsibility of governmental bodies and elected officials.
Types of Local Governments
- General-purpose local government - counties, cities, townships, etc
- Single-purpose local government - school districts, fire districts, etc.
- Special Districts - an independent unit of local government often created by referendum and organized to perform government functions in a specific geographic area. They usually have the power to incur debt and levy taxes.
- Area Wide Planning Organizations (like regional organizations) - provide grants and planning assistance, coordinate intergovernmental activities. They are not a separate layer of government.
- Regional Planning Agency - Develops regional plans and reviews regional impacts and projects. In some cases, a local government may transfer some local government powers to a regional agency, but that is not usually the case.
Preemption
Preemption is when the law of a higher level of government limits or even eliminates the power of a lower level of government. Preemption is not inherently good or bad. Some of the most important laws upholding equal protection under the law have come from preemptive federal and state legislation. For example, Congress enacted the federal Fair Housing Act in 1968 for the very purpose of preempting discriminatory local laws.
Lately, however, planning policies, like affordable housing protection, have been stymied by preemption. States can, for example, pass legislation that prohibits local inclusionary zoning ordinances. Local policy initiatives like Minneapolis’ effort to restrict single-family zoning “minneapolis Evicts Single-Family Zoning” are threatened by state preemtption. On the other hand, state preemption can be an effective way to combat NIMBYism.
Tribal Sovereignty
The federal government acknowledges 583 tribal governments throughout the country, all of which are recognized as sovereign nations by the US Constitution. Tribes are their own source of power. According to the 1959 case Williams v Lee, tribes possess “the right… to make their own laws and be ruled by them”. However, a wide range of federal laws can impact lands that fall under a tribe’s jurisdiction. For example, federal environmental laws might still apply to tribal land areas or affect their waterways. State laws like Washington’s State Environmental Policy Act do not apply to reservation lands, but they still have an impact because of how they apply to nearby communities off the reservation.
In 25 states, municipal governments frequently work with tribes to develop Transporation plans, protect environmental resources, and collaborate on other land-use issues. Ultimately, tribes are most successful when they build solid relationships with their neighbors. This is often achieved through a memorandum of agreement or understanding that helps ensure that local and state governments recognize the sovereignty of tribes in relation to the federal government.
