Kansas Gives the Finger to the Federal Government

By R. Brownell

Coming in from the Tenther Blog, Kansas has just proposed a piece of legislation that has now limited the excessive interaction between the state of Kansas and the federal government:

No state agency, state agent or state employee shall enter into any agreement, including, but not limited to, cost-sharing agreements and grants, which obligates the state of Kansas to any explicit or implied maintenance of effort requirements without the express prior consent of the Kansas legislature.

This move might not appear huge but the implications are immense; this revolves around the fact that a majority of  federal programs “require state action and funding,” and with the passage of HB2437, this would move to drastically limit federal control in the state. What is necessary for this to work is for the legislature to maintain its commitment and deny requests to get involved with the fed.

If HB2437 passed into law, it would require for legislative approval “before a state or local law enforcement agency could request military equipment under the Department of Defense 1033 program, or buy such equipment with federal grant money, because it requires state funds to maintain it once acquired.”

The law would also limit the role of intrusive federal agencies not bound by the US Constitution, ranging from the Department of Education to the Department of Agriculture.