Gov. Gary Herbert recently became chairman of the National Governors Association (NGA). He will lead the nation’s governors for the next year, serving as a spokesman for the states and representing the states before Congress and in many other forums.
It is a tribute to his leadership and a reflection of Utah’s success as a state that Herbert has been elected by his peers to lead the states. Other Utah leaders, including Sen. Curt Bramble and Salt Lake Mayor Ralph Becker, are also serving in the top positions of their respective national organizations. I congratulate each of them on their status as top leaders in the nation.
It is customary for the chairman of the NGA to select a topic or initiative to focus on during his or her term as chairman. The selection of an initiative is an important opportunity because a great deal of attention can be focused on that issue in a variety of speeches, meetings, opinion essays, testimony before Congress and in formal NGA conferences.
For his initiative, Herbert has selected the bold and important subject of federalism. It is an ambitious topic, because it concerns the very nature of the federal-state relationship. Herbert believes passionately that a better balance is needed between the federal government and the states. He believes that the federal government has grown too large and expensive and has taken on more responsibilities than it can effectively execute.
While the topic of federalism is sometimes associated with extremist groups, I believe Herbert is taking a responsible, reasonable and common-sense approach. He isn’t using harsh rhetoric or delivering ideological ultimatums. Instead, he is focusing on good governance, innovation and problem-solving — on the best governance structure for a complex, high-tech, interconnected world.
His motto is “Finding Solutions, Improving Lives,” and his mission is “To highlight governors’ innovative solutions to today’s most pressing problems.” During the next year he will attempt to enhance a collaborative state-federal partnership, highlight state solutions and share best practices.
In a statement, he said: “To find real solutions, just look to the real innovators — states, our laboratories of democracy. My initiative will showcase those breakthroughs.”
He anticipates highlighting innovative and relevant state solutions to difficult public policy challenges. At the end of his term, he will publish a book highlighting the successes of governors and the states in solving problems and executing good public policy.
It’s clear that both the federal government and state governments have important roles. And given many decades of unfortunate centralization at the federal level, it will be very difficult to untangle the spaghetti bowl of federal-state interactions. It will take time and would be highly disruptive to try to do too much too fast.
But, certainly, most reasonable people agree that states and local governments can do many things better than the federal government. Inflexible rules, regulations and programs emanating from Washington don’t always work well, given differing conditions at local levels.
Survey research conducted by Dan Jones & Associates for UtahPolicy.com shows that Utahns trust local and state governments far more than the federal government. Citizens also believe local and state governments use their tax dollars far more effectively than does the federal government.
We’ve also seen a great deal of stalemate and dysfunction at the federal level, although that has improved somewhat since the Republicans now control both chambers of Congress. Sen. Orrin Hatch has effectively reached across the aisle to move important legislation forward.
Herbert has undertaken an initiative that is very important to the future of the country. I wish him well as he works to restore a proper balance in the federal-state system.
A. Scott Anderson is CEO and president of Zions Bank.