By now you should know that I love it when the states, who created the federal government, put their creation back in its box. Now my adopted home state, the ‘Volunteer State’ of Tennessee, is joining the party.
I’ve written before about the federal government trying to bribe the states to do something or enact some form of legislation. Early in February 2020, legislation was introduced in both houses of the Tennessee legislature (SB2055 and HB2831) that would require their approval before any state agency could contract to accept a block grant.
Block Grants
Let’s start out with what these block grants are:
block grant:
Dictionary.com
a consolidated grant of federal funds, formerly allocated for specific programs, that a state or local government may use at its discretion for such programs as education or urban development.
Starting in the 1970s, block grants were used in an attempt to consolidate numerous federal grant programs. President Nixon proposed consolidating 129 federal domestic assistance programs into six block grants. While many of the President’s proposals were rejected by Congress, three block grant programs were created. Since these creations consolidated grants from several different programs, the states had the discretion to use the monies as they saw fit, within the boundaries of the block grant itself. (For example, a state could not take money from a child welfare block grant and use it for road repairs.) According to the Congressional Research Service, there are 23 federal block grant programs with over $58 billion in appropriated funds for fiscal year 2020.
So if the federal government is just giving the states money, why the legislation?
Legislation
Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, no state agency shall enter into, or renew, a contract or other agreement with the federal government for the receipt of a federal block grant unless the contract or other agreement is approved by the general assembly as evidenced by the passage of a joint resolution originating in either house.
TN SB2055, Section 1
If you’ve ever head the saying “He who pays the piper calls the tune”, then you should know why you should never just accept free money. Because nothing is free, and free money always comes with strings attached. Before any state agency enters or renews a contract, the representatives of the people should approve it. After all, if a state agency enters into a contract with the federal government to accept money, there is an expectation that the state will have to spend that money on something the federal government wants. For example, participants in certain Housing and Urban Development block grants are required to identify impediments to fair housing, and take action to mitigate them. In effect, these block grants give the federal government undue influence over state housing laws if the states want the money. In Tennessee, and probably in most states, state agencies cannot spend money without an appropriation made by law.
No public money shall be expended except pursuant to appropriations made by law.
Tennessee Constitution, Article II, Section 24
Now do you understand why I refer to grants as bribery? What we have is the federal government bribing state agencies to violate both the state constitution and state law in order to get an outcome they want.
BRI’BERY, noun The act or practice of giving or taking rewards for corrupt practices; the act of paying or receiving a reward for a false judgment, or testimony, or for the performance of that which is known to be illegal, or unjust. It is applied both to him who gives, and to him who receives the compensation, but appropriately to the giver.
Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
Now two Tennessee legislators want the citizens of the state to have a say, via their representatives, in any block grant money a state agency may accept. They are attempting to start the process of putting the federal government back in its place. This would return the states, as the parties to the compact that is the U.S. Constitution, to their role of masters of their creation.
Conclusion
This is more than just the Tennessee legislature “flexing its muscle”. By agreeing to enact rules and regulations with the force of law without going through the legislative process, these state agencies are bypassing the lawmaking system, violating the state’s constitution, and the oaths they took upon assuming office. It’s bad enough that the federal government has created these illegal agencies and then given them the authority to bribe and manipulate the states to do their illegal bidding, without the states encouraging them through their compliance. We the People should be holding our elected federal representatives accountable for their violation of the supreme law of the land. And we the citizens of the great state of Tennessee should stand with our representatives in Nashville that support this simple and reasonable legislation.
Will SB2055 and HB2831 get rid of federal bribery? No, but at least it will give the agents of the people, not the unelected bureaucracy, a say in how we deal with some of it. Bribery has two parts, and both the giver and the receiver are guilty. It’s well past time we start dealing with the receiving end of this bribery chain.
It won’t be easy. Too many of us, both those in the state agencies and the citizens of this state, have traded our rights and liberties for the pottage of federal money. We have to decide if we wish to be a free people, or a bought and paid for people. We have to decide if we want the American republic to endure or not, recognizing that there will be pain and difficulty either way. But if we do not stand up to the “free money” from Washington, D.C., we will one day find it was much more expensive than we thought.
The American Republic will endure until the day Congress discovers that it can bribe the public with the public’s money
Alexis De Tocqueville
