Although Utah Gov. Mike Leavitt's reign as chairman of the powerful Republican Governors Association came to an end earlier this week, his taste for the national political scene has not diminished.
Early next month in Puerto Rico, Leavitt will be crowned chairman of the Council of State Governments - a bipartisan organization of state leaders from throughout the nation. CSG is one of the largest and most influential organizations representing state interests, and it was a primary proponent of the Federalism Summit held last month in Cincinnati.Consequently, the CSG position will offer Leavitt yet another platform from which to focus national attention on the imbalance of power between the states and federal government.
Federalism remained the topic of discussion at RGA meetings in New Hampshire earlier this week. In fact, most presidential candidates were on hand to pitch their support for greater state autonomy from the tentacles of the federal government.
In a keynote address (carried live by C-SPAN), Leavitt questioned what the nation's Founding Fathers would say about a $5 trillion national debt and a government unwilling to balance its budget for 40 years. And what they would say about the volumes of federal laws prescribing in great detail how every state, city, town, village and hamlet conduct uniquely local tasks.
"What would they say about the staff assistants of assistant deputy under-secretaries of federal departments who think their real job is to double as a state health director, chief of police or local road superintendent?" Leavitt asked.
"I think they would undoubtedly ask why it took until 1994 for the people to react. They would say this government is seriously out of control and you'll never fix it until you balance your budget and get the national government out of things it is incapable of doing well."
Leavitt said it is not the role of states to lobby the federal government, that states are not special interests, but a counterbalance to the federal government.
The budget passed by Congress last Friday is a starting point to restoring that balance, he said. And he praised the flexibility in a package that allows states to streamline welfare, reform job training and fix Medicaid.
"I believe Congress and the president will succeed in negotiating a balanced budget on a seven-year path," Leavitt said. "The signing of that law signals the beginning of the most challenging period of opportunity and peril ever faced by the American states."
"Simply put, we've got to perform. Talk about welfare and job training reform has to be converted into action. Promises to fix Medicaid will no longer be adequate. Assurances that we will care for the disabled, poor and elderly will have to be proven."
Leavitt predicted there will be many watching the process and expecting it to fail. And there will be those looking for reasons to declare the states' initiatives failures.
"To our front will be the formidable challenge of managing unparalleled change," he said. "To our rear will be those who will immediately attempt to attach strings and controls to every aspect of our state programs. They will use every bobble and bounce in any of the states to declare all our efforts a premature failure in an attempt to reclaim federal control."