by J.D. Tuccille
Sometimes, I suspect that a
century from now, representatives of the government of the rump
remains of the United States of America will go to Salt Lake City
to beg the Republic of Deseret for kinder terms on a loan to fund
the continuing U.S. war on anything innovative or profitable. The
American representatives will have to order chips and salsa before
they'll be served the 3.2 beer in which they'll drown their sorrows
over the progress of the negotiations. Their hosts will drive a
hard bargain, still nursing resentment over long-gone dominance by
D.C. Utah is already establishing the grounds for that future
meeting. Like most westerners, Utahns are
pissed about
federal control of land and purse strings. Unlike most, though,
they seem serious about reshaping that relationship.
In 2012, Utah passed the
Transfer of Public Lands Act, essentially demanding that the
federal government surrender the two-thirds of the state controlled
by Washington, D.C.
Other western states are considering
similar measures, but Utah paved the way.
But Utah is preparing to go a step further and plans for a
future that isn't funded by federal largesse. The state passed a
series of bills as part of a Financial Ready Utah movement. The
problem, as the group backing the move
explains, is that "More than 40 cents of every dollar the state
of Utah spends comes from the federal government that borrows
and/orprints more than 40 cents of every dollar it sends to Utah."
Since "The current fiscal trajectory of the federal government is
unsustainable," (a point agreed to by the
Congressional Budget Office), Utahns foresee a day when
whatever they want done will have to be paid by local funds.
Recently, Reason Foundation Director of Government Reform
Leonard Gilroy interviewed
Utah State Representative Ken Ivory, who plays a key role in
increasing his state's autonomy. Ivory links his role in taking
local control of public land in the state to the state's need for
increased financial self-reliance...
Ivory says the enabling acts authorizing statehood for western
states, including Utah,
contain the same language about transfer of public lands from
the federal government to state authorities as the enabling acts
for states such as Nebraska. But the transfers took place for
Nebraska and other states, and not for their counterparts further
west. That's the lynchpin for the drive to take control of lands
that are now claimed by the federal government, and to gain the
financial benefits from them.
That's not a universally accepted legal interpretation of the
enabling acts, but there's no doubt that federal dominance
economically hobbles the western states. There's also no doubt that
greater financial independence would allow for more policy
variation and experimentation at the state level—especially in a
region that is rather ideologically
distinct from the East. It would also help to insulate states
from the ongoing fiscal disaster in Washington, D.C.
Read the rest of the very interesting interview here.
Issues of concern to people who live in the west: property rights, water rights, endangered species, livestock grazing, energy production, wilderness and western agriculture. Plus a few items on western history, western literature and the sport of rodeo... Frank DuBois served as the NM Secretary of Agriculture from 1988 to 2003. DuBois is a former legislative assistant to a U.S. Senator, a Deputy Assistant Secretary of Interior, and is the founder of the DuBois Rodeo Scholarship.
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