UNBIASED - Unbiased University: Local vs. State vs. Federal Government: Who Has What Power?

Episode Date: April 13, 2026

In this episode of UNBIASED Politics, we break down the three levels of government in the United States: federal, state, and local. What powers belong to each level, how do their responsibilities differ, and how do these layers of government interact with one another? We walk through the structure and authority of the federal government, the role of state governments within the constitutional system, and the wide range of responsibilities handled at the local level, from counties to cities and school districts. Along the way, we explain how powers are divided, where authority overlaps, and how policies often require coordination across multiple levels of government. ⁠Watch⁠ this episode on YouTube. Follow Jordan on ⁠Instagram⁠ and ⁠TikTok⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to Unbiased, your favorite source of unbiased news and legal analysis. Welcome back to Unbiased Politics and to the Unbiased University series. In today's episode, we're talking about the differences between state, local, and federal government. Why? Because most people know these three levels of government exist, right? But they're not entirely sure which level is responsible for which decisions, how those levels interact with one another, or what happens when they disagree on policy? So at the center of this discussion is a constitutional principle called federalism, which if you've been tuning into Unbiased University on a regular basis, you know what federalism is at this point. But just as a refresher, federalism refers to

the division of authority between the federal government and the states. So rather than concentrating power in this single central authority, the United States system intentionally spreads power across multiple levels. And the idea behind that was that dividing authority would make it harder for any one level of government to become too dominant. But at the same time, it would allow policies to reflect the needs of different regions and communities within the country. So in this episode, we'll walk through how each level of government operates, what powers they typically exercise, how they work both separately and together, and what all of this looks like in practice.

Today's episode is on the longer side, but that's just because there is so much to talk about here. So just, you know, relax, enjoy, learn a lot. There's certainly a lot to know. Now, for those of you tuning in for the first time, this is my rant. I want you to think of this unbiased university series as a condensed law school education. I want you to imagine that every time we're tuning into one of these episodes, you are sitting down in a 30 to 45 minute law school class with me as your principal.

professor. And in each class, we cover a different topic. We talk about the various cases and laws that have shaped those topics. And by the end of this series, you will have obtained your imaginary degree from unbiased university. And what that means is you will be fully prepared for the show when I come back from maternity leave and I get back to reporting on current events because all of these concepts that we are talking about in each of these unbiased university episodes, they're all in the background of every single current event that we talk about in the show. So it's really important that we understand them. And if you love what you hear today, please, please,

share this episode and this series and this show with your family, friends, loved ones, whoever you think will appreciate it. I would very much appreciate it if you did that. So thank you in advance. And with that said, let's dive into the different levels of government, starting with the big picture. I want to zoom out and talk about the three levels of government at a high level. And then we'll zoom in to each level of government.

separately. So if we think about this like a pyramid, okay, we have the federal government at the top. The federal government is the national government that consists of the executive branch, where the president and his cabinet, the legislative branch, Congress, and the judicial branch, the courts. The Constitution gives the federal government certain enumerated powers, meaning powers that are specifically granted to it in the constitution. These enumerated powers include things like regulating interstate commerce, conducting foreign policy, maintaining the military, establishing immigration rules, coining money, and managing relations with other countries. Put very simply, the federal government primarily handles issues that affect the country as a whole

or that require uniform national policy. However, federal authority is not limited to only the powers explicitly listed in the Constitution. The Constitution also has something called the necessary and proper clause. And what this clause allows is Congress to pass laws that are needed or necessary to carry out its enumerated powers. So for example, the Constitution does not explicitly say that Congress has the power to create a national bank, but Congress does have enumerated powers to tax, borrow money, regulate commerce, and coin money. And the Supreme Court held that creating a national bank is in fact constitutional, even though it's, it's not explicitly listed as a, you know, power because it was a reasonable means of carrying

out Congress's enumerated financial powers. That was all the way back in 1819. But over time, the necessary and proper clause has played a major role in expanding the reach of federal authority, particularly when it comes to economic regulation and nationwide programs. And we'll, of course, touch on this more when we zoom into the federal government. But now let's move to the state government and take a bird's eye view. If we imagine that pyramid, state governments lie directly below the federal government. Unlike the federal government, which only has the powers specifically granted to it and those that are necessary for carrying out the powers specifically granted to it, states operate under what are

called reserved powers. Reserve powers are powers that are not delegated to the federal government and are generally left to the states. So the 10th Amendment of the Constitution says, quote, the power. Powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively or to the people, end quote. Now, the powers that belong to the states are often called general police powers, which basically means that states can make laws for the health, safety, welfare, and morals of their residents. So some examples include public education systems, criminal laws within each state, election administration, family law, professional licensing, the list goes on. State governments essentially oversee a lot of

the systems that people interact with most frequently. And they also create and oversee the legal framework for local governments, including the cities and counties within each state. So now moving on to local governments. Local governments are at the bottom of our pyramid, right? They have the least amount of power, but they do still shape policy. It's just on a much smaller scale. It's just on a much smaller scale. So the local level of government includes cities, counties, school districts, and municipalities. And something worth noting is that local governments aren't directly created by the Constitution, okay? They are established through state law. And because of this, their authority can vary significantly from state to state. Not all localities have the same

amount of power. Some cities operate under what's known as home rule, meaning they have relatively broad authority to govern local matters, while other cities operate with much more limited powers that are granted directly by the state legislature. And that's called Dillon's rule, but we'll get to that later. Local governments typically handle day-to-day services. So policing, fire departments, zoning rules, local road maintenance, property taxes, school boards, utilities, things like that. In a lot of ways, local government is the level that shapes, you know, everyday quality of life most directly, even though it does tend to get the least amount of attention. Now, although the three levels of government each have their own responsibilities and their own

powers, the American system also isn't designed to keep them completely separate. So they often function through what's called cooperative federalism. And that just means different levels of government work together to implement policies. So for example, the federal government might provide funding for infrastructure or health care programs, but the states may administer those programs. And then the local governments might handle the on-the-ground implementation of those programs. You can also see cooperative federalism at play whenever disaster strikes, right? So emergencies will typically be handled locally first and then escalated to state authorities if needed and then supported by federal resources when the situation exceeds state capacity. So while these three levels of government have different powers and very much separate powers, they also work together in a lot of ways as well.

And we'll dive into that more throughout this episode. So now what I want to do is we'll zoom in on the federal government specifically and we'll talk about how it functions on its own. So remember, at a high level, the federal government handles things that affect the country as a whole or that require uniform national policy. In other words, the things that really can't realistically be decided 50 different ways. And something else to keep in mind is that the federal government isn't, you know, quote unquote, big because it handles anything and everything and it has so many powers. It's big because of the size of society and the economy. But it's enumerated powers and the powers that it has are relatively limited. You know, they're not totally limited, but they are relatively limited.

So we'll break down the federal government discussion into 10 categories of independent power. When I say independent power, this is power that is exclusively reserved for the federal government. So we have national defense and security, foreign policy and diplomacy, immigration and citizenship, monetary policy and national finance, regulation of interstate and international commerce, nationwide civil rights enforcement, federal criminal law, national infrastructure funding, intellectual property, and then the federal court system. So we'll start with national defense and security. One of the most basic reasons that the federal government exists is to protect the country as a whole. When it comes to national defense and security, the constitution gives Congress. And by the way, when we talk about the federal government, this includes Congress, right?

We're not just talking about the executive branch. We're talking about all three branches of the federal government. the executive, judicial, and legislative. So when it comes to national defense and security, the Constitution gives Congress the power to raise and support armies, provide and maintain a Navy, declare war, and fund the military. The president serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces. And if you think about the time period in which the Constitution was drafted, the framers had just lived through the Articles of Confederation, where the national government was too weak

to really, you know, reliably fund or coordinate defense because states, they had, the federal government had to request money from states and states were hesitant to contribute troops for money, so it just wasn't working. And through that, the framers realized that national defense cannot depend on voluntary cooperation from individual states. It requires this centralized authority. So the federal government, you know, it is solely responsible for raising armed forces. It funds them through national taxation. It determines military strategy. It oversees global military bases. It manages intelligence operations. It controls nuclear weapons. It sets national security policy. It's responsible in full for our military. The one exception here is that states do have national guard

units. But even those can be federalized in certain limited situations. But keep in mind that when we talk about national security and defense, this goes beyond traditional warfare, right? National security also includes the intelligence agencies, cybersecurity strategy, counterterrorism operations, and just the general protection of national infrastructure from foreign threats, because those are not localized issues, okay? Those belong to the federal government. Now, that doesn't mean states have no role in emergency response, right? governors can deploy their National Guard for unrest within their state or disasters. States manage local law enforcement and emergency management systems.

But when we're talking about defending the country or maintaining national military power or engaging in international conflict, that authority belongs to the federal government. Next, we have foreign policy and diplomacy. Foreign policy means the federal government representing the United States, the rest of the world. So foreign policy includes trade agreements, sanctions against other countries, participation in international organizations, border negotiations, extradition agreements, recognition of foreign leaders or foreign countries, decisions about embassies and consulates, things of that nature. So the president has the power to negotiate treaties. The Senate ratifies

treaties. Congress regulates international trade and can declare war with other nations. The state department manages embassies and foreign relations. These are things the federal government does, not the states. Anything related to foreign affairs rests with the federal government. Then we have immigration and citizenship. So only the federal government has the power to decide who can enter the United States, who can stay in the United States, who can become a lawful permanent resident, who can become a citizen, and who can be removed from the country. And again, this goes back to the idea that the federal government has powers that just wouldn't make sense to give to the 50 states. Imagine if every state had different immigration rules. It just wouldn't make

sense. You would basically have 50 different border policies inside of one country. So the Constitution specifically gives Congress the power to establish a uniform rule of naturalization. In fact, there was a Supreme Court case called Arizona versus United States in 2012, where Arizona enacted this law that created a state-level crime for being unlawfully present in the United States. It created a state-level crime for working or seeking work when not authorized to do so. It required state and local officers to verify citizenship status of anyone who was lawfully arrested or detained, and it allowed warrantless arrests of those believed to be removable from the United States. and the Supreme Court struck down three of the four provisions in this law because they encroached

on the federal government's power to regulate immigration. The ruling in that case made clear that immigration enforcement is primarily a federal responsibility. Now, at the same time, states can cooperate with federal immigration enforcement or they can decline to use state resources in certain ways that support immigration enforcement, but they cannot set their own immigration rules or override federal immigration rules. That is a federal power. Immigration and citizenship solely belongs to the federal government. We're going to take a quick break here. When we come back, we'll continue with these specific powers granted to the federal government. You're not going to be a dictator, are you? I said, no, no, no, other than day one.

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Check out master plan season two, the kingmakers. Visit masterplanpodcast.com or search master plan in your podcast app to start listening right now. Welcome back. Before the break, we covered defense, foreign policy, and immigration. Next, we have to talk about monetary policy and national finance. The Constitution gives Congress the power to coin money and regulate its value. It also gives Congress the authority to borrow money on. behalf of the United States. And importantly, the Constitution specifically prohibits states

from coining their own money or issuing their own currency. And that's because if every state could print its own currency, set its own monetary policy, or create its own banking rules, the national economy would just be completely fragmented. We wouldn't have the U.S. dollar, right? We could potentially have 50 different currencies fluctuating against each other. So monetary policy is one of those things that has to be centralized to maintain economic stability. So the federal government prints money. It manages the interest rates. It responds to inflation and recession risks. It manages the national debt, et cetera. Anything related to monetary policy belongs to the federal government. Now is what's that regulation of interstate and international

commerce. So the constitution specifically gives Congress the power to regulate commerce among the several states and with foreign nations. Originally, this was pretty simple, okay? Originally, Congress would regulate commerce crossing state lines and with foreign nations. Nowadays, almost everything crosses state lines, right? So a company can manufacture a product in Ohio, but maybe that product ships through Kentucky and then sells in Georgia. That's interstate commerce. If you book a flight from Texas to California, that's interstate commerce. Phone lines, railroads, trucking, energy grids, financial markets, all of these things are interstate commerce. So the federal government has the authority to regulate all of those things to ensure consistency.

And that's why federal agencies regulate airlines. That's why federal agencies set the rules for financial markets. That's why national labor standards exist. That's why telecommunications companies are subject to federal oversight. Now, historically, this power expansion. significantly in the 30s during the New Deal era. The Supreme Court started interpreting the Commerce Clause much more broadly. And it began allowing Congress to regulate not just direct interstate transactions, but also any activity that substantially affects interstate commerce. So direct interstate commerce are the things we just talked about,

an airline flying from Texas to California, a company shipping product across state lines, a trucking company transporting goods from one state to another. But what about the farmer who grows wheat on his land for his own personal use? You're probably thinking to yourself, well, what do you mean? That's obviously not interstate commerce. But this was a Supreme Court case. It was called Wickard v. Philburn. And the Supreme Court said that if too many farmers did the same thing growing their wheat instead of buying it, that would affect national wheat prices in the interstate wheat market and therefore Congress can regulate it. So that's what we call the substantial effects doctrine. The activity might be local, but its economic impact influences interstate

markets. And that's how federal regulation of labor standards and agriculture production and environmental impacts and civil rights and businesses became constitutionally permissible under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution. Because our economy is so interconnected, the Commerce Clause has become one of the primary sources of federal regulatory authority. And the power to regulate interstate and international commerce ties back to this idea of economic unity, right? If every state had different aviation safety standards, national air travel would be a disaster. If trucking companies had to comply with 50 separate interstate systems, national supply chains would break down. So these kinds of things belong to the federal government, interstate commerce with or trade with

foreign nations, although now we have the substantial effects doctrine, which has expanded the federal government's power significantly. Next is nationwide civil rights protections. So the 14th Amendment to the Constitution specifically gives Congress enforcement authority, over civil rights issues. Before the 14th Amendment, most civil rights issues were left to the states. But now the federal government is the enforcer when it comes to civil rights protections. So if a state passes a law that violates equal protection, federal courts strike it down. If a state enacts voting procedures that violate federal civil rights law, Congress has the authority to step in under its enforcement powers. So while states can do things like regulate schools and, you know, criminal law,

family law, elections administration, they cannot violate constitutional rights while they do those things. And when they do, the federal government has both the authority and the responsibility to step in. Then we have federal criminal law. So federal criminal law generally applies when the offense involves a distinct national interest. So crimes that take place across state lines like interstate drug trafficking or kidnapping across state lines, crimes involving federal property or federal officials, like assaulting a federal officer or committing a crime on national parkland. And then also crimes that affect national systems like mail fraud, immigration violations, terrorism, et cetera. So while each state has its own criminal laws, the federal government has sole jurisdiction over federal criminal law. A state could not prosecute someone for violating federal criminal law.

That would be up to the federal government. federal government has sole jurisdiction when it comes to federal crimes. Next, national infrastructure and funding. So this includes things like the interstate highway system, major airports, ports, shipping ports, energy grids, bridge and transportation projects, bigger ones, disaster recovery funding. Now, states and local governments absolutely build and maintain a lot of this infrastructure, but the funding and the coordination for many of the larger projects originates at the the federal level. The interstate highway system is a great example. It's called interstate because the highways connect multiple states, right? And while we tend to just think of these highways as a way for

you and I to get from point A to point B, they actually provide a lot more value than that. They support not only national commerce, but also national defense. So wouldn't necessarily make sense for each state to independently manage their portion of the highway. There has to be coordination. but the federal government's role is mostly funding. So some projects are just too big or too expensive or too interconnected for one state to handle a loan. So infrastructure funding is one of the ways the federal government manages long-term economic growth and national connectivity without necessarily directly micromanaging implementation at the local or state level. The second to last power we have to talk about is intellectual properties.

So this is things like patents, trademarks, and copyrights. And a lot of people don't know this, but the Constitution is actually what gives this power to the federal government. So the Constitution gives the federal government the power to, quote, promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. And quote, and this clause is the foundation for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, federal copyright law, federal trade law, federal trade. law, though trademarks also rely in part on the Commerce Clause. But it is because of this clause in the Constitution. So all of these powers are exclusively federal. There is no such thing as a state patent or a state copyright. There is no such thing as a California copyright that only applies inside California. It's a federal thing. You can think about it like this. If you invent a product

in Ohio and you sell it online, your protection has to apply across all 50 states, right? If you write a book in Georgia, your copyright has to be enforceable across the country. If you create a brand in New York, your trademark protection can't just go away when your product crosses into Pennsylvania. So Congress established a national patent office, national copyright registration systems, and national trademark protections. And then finally, the federal court system. So the Constitution specifically establishes a national court system and gives Congress the authority to establish lower federal courts. But what differentiates federal courts from state courts is their responsibility. So federal courts interpret federal law. They interpret the constitution and they can review and invalidate state laws that

conflict with the constitution or federal law. State courts cannot do these things. Without the federal court system, federal authority, it would exist because it's written into the constitution, but there wouldn't be a way to handle disputes between the state and the national government or a way to protect constitutional rights. So that's why we have the federal court system. If we zoom out and look at all 10 of these pillars together, it is very clear that the federal government operates independently in areas that require national unity, national consistency, or national sovereignty. It protects the country through defense and national security. It represents the country to foreign interests. It controls immigration and citizenship. It manages the national monitoring.

system. It regulates interstate and international commerce. It enforces constitutional civil rights protections. It prosecutes crimes tied to national interests. It funds and coordinates large-scale infrastructure. It protects intellectual property nationwide. And through the federal court system, it interprets and enforces the constitution itself. So that begs the question. If the federal government handles national systems, what do the states control on their? own. Well, as we talked about earlier, state authority differs from federal authority in the sense that the federal government can only act where the constitution authorizes it. States can act unless the constitution prohibits it. So very different. And as we talked about before,

states have what are called general police powers, which is the authority to regulate for health, safety, welfare, and morals. And within the health, safety, welfare, and morals, category is criminal law, family law, elections administration, the education system, licensing, zoning, public health, and intrastate commerce. Not to be confused with interstate commerce. Interstate commerce authority belongs to the federal government. This is intrastate commerce. So let's zoom in to these things and we'll do basically the same thing we did with the federal government where we zoomed into the federal government's independent powers. Now we're zooming into the state's independent powers, and we're going to start with criminal law and public safety.

We talked about federal criminal law, but most criminal law is actually state law. If someone commits assault, theft, burglary, homicide, murder, those things are defined by state statutes. States also set sentencing guidelines for state crimes. States operate prisons. States run the trial courts for most criminal cases. States fund the police departments. They operate district attorney's offices. They oversee probation systems. And they set criminal procedure rules. So again, federal criminal law exists, but federal criminal law is tied to national interests. Most of the criminal laws that govern everyday conduct are created at the state level. Then we have education systems. So there's no federal department running local school districts. Okay. States establishes.

public education systems, they determine graduation requirements, they set curriculum standards, they license teachers, and they oversee state universities. Now, the federal government can certainly influence education through funding and civil rights enforcement, but it doesn't run schools or make any rules surrounding the education system. There are no national graduation requirements or national curriculum standards. These are things that are set specifically by the states. And that's why the curriculum in California schools might look different than the curriculum in Florida schools, or that's why the graduation requirements in Texas might look different than the graduation requirements in New Jersey. It's because these things are set by the individual states. We're going to take another quick break here.

When we come back, we'll talk more about powers reserved to the states. This episode is brought to you by Tell us Online Security. Oh, tag season is the worst. You mean hack season? Sorry, what? Yeah, cybercriminals love tax forms. But I've got TELUS online security. It helps protect against identity theft and financial fraud

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responsibly. 19 plus to wager. Ontario only. Please play responsibly. If you have questions or concerns about your gambling or someone close to you, please contact connects Ontario at 1-866-531-2600 to speak to an advisor, free of charge. BetMGM operates pursuant to an operating agreement with Eye Gaming, Ontario. Welcome back. Before the break, we covered criminal law and education systems, two powers reserved to the states. Now we have to talk about the administration of elections. This is actually a power directly granted to the states by the Constitution. The Constitution says that states have primary authority over the times, places, and manner of federal elections, subject to congressional oversight. So states administer elections, both state elections and federal elections.

States design ballots. They establish voter registration systems. They set polling locations. They count votes. They run primaries. They put together the slate of electors. for each presidential candidate. That is all on the states.

And as I mentioned, this is subject to congressional oversight. So what that means is that while states run the mechanics of elections, Congress has the constitutional authority to step in and change certain state rules for federal elections specifically. So for example, Congress passed the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which required states to offer voter registration opportunities at DMVs and certain public agencies. States still run their voter registration systems, but Congress set baseline rules that they have to follow.

Another example, states run the elections, but Congress created a uniform election day for federal elections. So again, Congress can step in for certain things, but the elections are administered by the states. Next is family law. So marriage, divorce, child custody, adoption, and inheritance. These are all governed primarily by state law. There is no national marriage code. Okay. With that said, states of course have to operate within constitutional boundaries. They can't violate federal constitutional rights, but the structure and administration of family law is state based. Then licensing and regulations for professions. States decide who can practice medicine, who can practice law, sell real estate, cut hair, operate certain businesses, drive a car. Drivers licenses and professional licenses are, state issued. So for example, I'm a licensed lawyer in Florida. I can't move to a new state tomorrow and start practicing, okay? You know, another state, there are reciprocity. I'm not getting into

all that. You get what I'm trying to say. The bar exam, the exam that you have to take to become a license lawyer, also differs by state. The bar exam I took in Florida is not the same as the bar exam in California. And the reason that this is a state power comes down to the fact that the constitution doesn't give this power to the federal government, so it's reserved to the state. Now, if you think about the general police powers, licensing is about protecting public safety at the community and state level, right? When a state requires doctors to pass medical exams, it's protecting patients within that state. When a state license attorneys, it's ensuring competence in its own state court system. When a state issues driver's licenses, it's regulating its own roadways.

These are all local concerns or state concerns that don't inherently require, uniformity in the way that, let's say, foreign policy does. Now, that doesn't mean there's zero federal involvement because sometimes federal law will create baseline standards like federal minimum requirements for commercial driver's licenses because trucking often crosses state lines, right? But that goes back to the federal government's ability to regulate interstate commerce. So the underlying authority to license individuals to practice a profession belongs to the states. It's the state saying, if you're going to provide services that affect public health or safety within our state borders, we have the power to make you meet minimum standards set by us. And then finally, intrastate commerce. Again, not to be confused with interstate commerce.

Intrastate commerce is commerce within a state's borders. And regulating this kind of commerce is entirely within a state's power. If commerce doesn't cross state lines and doesn't implicate federal constitutional authorities, states have regulatory control. So states set zoning rules. They regulate land use. They establish property laws. They oversee purely local commerce. For example, you open a storefront in Arizona. Arizona would regulate your safety standards, licensing, inspections, building codes, zoning, and taxes, sometimes directly and sometimes through local governments, which we'll talk about more in a minute. But the federal government doesn't issue your license. It doesn't zone your property. And it doesn't decide whether your building can be used for commercial purposes. That is, that's strictly state and

local land use authority. Now, if that same storefront ships their products across the country, that is when federal regulations can enter the picture or trucking. For example, I've talked about trucking a couple of times now. If a trucking company operates only inside Georgia, Georgia regulates it. But if that company is transporting goods from Georgia to Tennessee, that's interstate commerce and federal regulations apply. So if economic action, activity stays within one state and doesn't substantially affect interstate markets, states regulated. If economic activity crosses state lines or substantially impacts interstate commerce, federal authority takes over. But constitutionally speaking, states have broad control over local

businesses. They have broad control over property law, contract law, zoning and land use. So to recap, before we zoom in on local governments, the federal government governs national systems. States govern more community systems. States control public safety, education, family law, property law, most criminal law, they administer elections, and they regulate intrastate commerce. Remember, states can do almost anything unless the Constitution prohibits it. The federal government can only do what the Constitution says it can do, plus things that are necessary and proper to carry out those enumerated powers. Now finally, let's zoom in on local governments. So, Local governments are at the bottom of the pyramid.

They're below state governments. It's important to note that local governments only exist because states create them. Local governments are not mentioned in the Constitution. So as we go through the independent authority of local governments just realize that the independent authority is authority states have granted to them. In other words, local governments get their power from state law. Within that framework, though, local governments carry out. pretty significant day-to-day power. So local governments usually handle things like zoning and land use

decisions, local building permits, municipal police departments, fire departments, public school boards, though education policy is mostly determined by the state, water and sewer systems, garbage collection, local road maintenance, property tax assessments, local ordinances, we can keep going. If you're arguing with your neighbor about a fence, that's local. Okay, if you're getting a permit to renovate your house, that's local. If your trash pickup schedule changes, that's local. Local governments essentially oversee the operational aspects of everyday life. And something to point out, too, is that local governments pass ordinances, whereas states and the federal government pass laws. In ordinance is just a law passed by a local government. It just uses a different word.

States and Congress pass laws. Cities and counties pass ordinances. Functionally speaking, they're both rules that people have to follow. Okay. They just come from different. levels of government and they're called different things. Now, what I want to do here is I want to revisit that storefront in Arizona example that we just talked about a few minutes ago. So the state of Arizona, as we said, would regulate things like statewide business registration requirements, state labor laws, state sales tax collection, and statewide consumer protection laws. And that's because those rules have to be consistent across the entire state. You don't want every city making completely different licensing systems or tax rules. That would be a disaster. But here's where

the local government plays a role. The local government would handle zoning approval for your storefront, land use restrictions, building permits, compliance with local building codes, sidewalk use permits, property tax assessments, and much, much more. And that's because these regulations are tied to the physical layout of the neighborhood. They're tied to community planning. They're tied to infrastructure capacity. So zoning rules in downtown Phoenix would look very different than zoning rules in a smaller, more rural town in Arizona. Building codes might also vary depending on climate, geography, or local development needs. So because these issues are specific to a community, the state delegates this authority to the local governments.

Now, here's where the relationship between state and local governments gets interesting. States decide how much autonomy local governments get. So some states operate under what's called home rule, which means local governments have broad authority to govern local matters unless the states prohibit it. But other states follow what's called Dillon's rule, which means local governments only have the powers that are explicitly granted to them by the state legislature. So the degree of independence that local governments have varies depending on state law. But in all cases, local authority ultimately flows upward to the state. So for example, the state of Illinois operates under home rule. So Chicago can do things like impose certain local taxes without specific state approval or regulate local labor standards or pass local gun regulations so long as they're within constitutional limits.

The city of Chicago can create local ordinances when it wants to. The default assumption under home rule is that local governments can act unless state law prohibits them. The state of Virginia, though, operates under Dillon's rules. So local governments in Virginia typically only have powers that are expressly granted by the state legislature, necessarily implied from those granted powers, or essential to their declared purposes. So if Arlington, Virginia wants to implement a new type of local tax or regulatory system, it has to first confirm that the Virginia legislature has granted that authority. If the authority is not clearly granted, Arlington,

can't just assume that it exists. The default assumption under Dillon's rule is that local governments cannot act unless the state authorizes them. So localities in Virginia and Illinois operate very differently, but in both scenarios, the authority in all localities within those two states flows upward to the state. Now, here's something else worth pointing out. Local governments cannot violate the Constitution. They cannot violate federal law. They cannot violate state law. If a city passes an ordinance that conflicts with state law, the state can override it. If a city ordinance violates constitutional rights or federal law, federal courts can strike it down. So local governments operate at the bottom, the very bottom of this layered hierarchy.

Federal law is at the top, state law is next, and local ordinances are at the bottom. And speaking of this layered hierarchy, I want to briefly touch on the supremacy clause. The supremacy clause tells us what happens when a state, passes a law that conflicts with federal law or when a city passes an ordinance that conflicts with state law. So the supremacy clause is explicitly written into the Constitution and it says, quote, the Constitution and the laws of the United States, which shall be made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties made shall be the supreme law of the land. Judges in every state shall be bound thereby, anything in the Constitution or laws of any state

to the contrary notwithstanding. end quote. And while that language is far more complicated than it needs to be, it's basically saying that when a federal, when the federal government passes a law that is constitutionally allowed to pass, that law overrides any conflicting state law. When there is a direct conflict between state law and federal law, federal law wins so long as the federal law is constitutional. So the supremacy clause doesn't mean the federal government can do anything it wants and enact whatever laws it wants. it just means that when it acts within its authority, states cannot override it. So I'll give you a few examples.

If federal civil rights law prohibits certain types of discrimination, a state cannot pass a law allowing that type of discrimination. If federal law says airlines have to follow certain safety standards, a state can't pass a law allowing airlines to ignore those safety standards. If federal immigration law governs who can lawfully be present in the United States, a state can't create its own parallel immigration system. that conflicts with federal law. So federal law always wins so long as it's valid law. And because local governments sit under state authority, if a city ordinance conflicts with state law, state law wins. If a city ordinance conflicts with valid federal law, federal law wins.

So the hierarchy is the constitution, then valid federal law and treaties, then state law, and at the very bottom, local ordinances. is. Another example, if a state passes a minimum wage law that says minimum wage statewide is $10 an hour, but then a city within that state passes an ordinance, let's say they raise the local minimum wage to $15 an hour. Whether that ordinance survives depends on state law. Okay, so in a Dillon's rule state where local governments only have the powers explicitly granted to them by the state legislature, the city ordinance would likely be struck down unless the state authorized that minimum wage ordinance. In a home rule state, the city might have more authority to set a higher wage unless the state legislature explicitly prohibited local wage regulations.

Now, let's say a city attempts to recognize certain undocumented immigrants as lawfully permanent residents under local law. That would be struck down because it directly conflicts with federal immigration law. So as you can see, there's this vertical hierarchy that exists. We'll take our final break here. When we come back, we'll talk about how these three levels of government work together, which is a concept called cooperative federalism. Welcome back. Before the break, we talked about the independent powers of each of the three levels of government,

but now we have to talk about cooperative federalism or how these levels of government work together. Because in reality, a lot of the most important programs in our country are our shared responsibilities. The federal government, a lot of times, provides the funding and sets baseline rules for programs, but the states will administer those programs and the local governments will handle the day-to-day implementation of those programs. So it's very much a coordinated effort in most situations. We'll start with an easy example first, highways. The federal government collects gas taxes and uses that money to distribute funding to states for transportation

projects. But the federal government isn't the one showing up and pouring the concrete, right? The states are the ones planning, building, and maintaining the highways. The states decide where the roads will go, which construction company will build, how they're maintained once they're built. So even though the interstate highway system connects the entire country, the day-to-day work of building and maintaining those roads is handled by state transportation departments. Now let's say the interstate connects local roads or city access ramps or, you know, exits need to be put in or utility lines have to be relocated. That's when the local government would come in and coordinate with the state transportation departments. So the federal government provides the funding and sets the national

standards. The state government is responsible for project management and construction, and the local government coordinates on certain local infrastructure matters. Next, let's look at Medicaid. Medicaid is a joint federal state health care program. So the federal government provides a significant portion of the funding and sets minimum coverage requirements, but states administer the program. States determine certain eligibility standards within the set federal guidelines. They process applications. They manage provider networks. They oversee how benefits are delivered. So the federal government provides the funding and sets the guardrails, and the state government administers and implements the program. And it's worth noting, too, that states can make

different policy choices within those federal guardrails. And that's why Medicaid can actually look different depending on where you live. So for example, under the Affordable Care Act, Congress expanded Medicaid eligibility to cover more low-income adults. And originally, states were required to accept the expansion. Otherwise, they would risk losing all of their existing Medicaid funding. So what happened was multiple states actually sued, arguing that this was unconstitutionally coercive. And in 2012, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government could not threaten to withdrawing. hold all existing Medicaid funds from states that refused to expand. The court said that was too

coercive. So following that, Medicaid expansion became optional. Some states chose to expand Medicaid eligibility, others chose not to. And because of that, Medicaid coverage looks different depending on where you live. In one state, a low-income adult without children might qualify for Medicaid. In another state, that same person might not qualify at all. So same federal program, same federal funding structure, but different state policy choice because there are limits on how far the federal government can push the states. That is cooperative federalism. But where cooperative federalism gets interesting is when it comes to conditional funding because we just said the federal government can't be too coercive, but it can make funding conditional in certain situations.

So Congress might say, we'll give you federal highway funding, but only if your state adopts certain safety standards or we'll provide health care funding, but only if your Medicaid program meets certain requirements. States aren't technically being forced to accept the funding, but in reality, it's hard for states to say no to that kind of federal money. And the Supreme Court addressed this conditional funding structure in a case called South Dakota versus Dole. The court upheld Congress's authority to withhold a small percentage of highway funds from states that refuse to raise their drinking age to 21. And the court basically said Congress can encourage states to adopt certain policies by attaching reasonable conditions to federal funds. But if the government

threatens to take away so much existing funding that states effectively have no choice, that can cross the line into unconstitutional coercion. And that's what the Medicaid case was all about. So conditional funding is fine. Encouragement is fine. But too much financial pressure that leaves states with no realistic option, that's where the Constitution comes in. And that balance is cooperative federalism. So at this point in the episode, we've talked about how each level of government works independently, how they work together, and who wins when they conflict with one another. But now, as sort of a closer, I want to illustrate how all three levels operate at once. So take marijuana. At the federal level, marijuana is still

illegal. That is national law. At the state level, some states have decided not to criminalize marijuana, right? And they've used their general police powers to remove state penalties. That doesn't override federal law. It just means the state has chosen not to punish it under state law. Overriding federal law would be if the state said federal law enforcement can't enforce their federal law in our state or federal criminalization of marijuana doesn't apply here. A state couldn't do that, okay? Maybe there's no state crime for marijuana possession, but certainly federal officials could still arrest you in that state for violating federal marijuana laws. But if a state doesn't want to criminalize it, it doesn't have to.

Even though the federal government criminalizes it, a state doesn't have to. Then we zoom in one more level. Even in states where marijuana is legal, a lot of the times, cities can regulate where dispensaries can operate. They essentially use their zoning power to say, you can sell here. but not near schools or you can't open a dispensary in this town at all. So the marijuana issue, as you can see, is being touched on by all three levels of government. The federal government criminalizes marijuana under federal law. States can decide whether to criminalize under state law,

but they can't tell the federal government what to do and not do. And the local government can tell marijuana businesses where they can or can't physically operate. We'll do one more example, education. So the federal government doesn't run the classrooms, right, but it does provide funding and it does enforce civil rights protections in schools. It's the states that set curriculum standards, determine graduation requirements, and licensed teachers. And then it's the local school boards that actually run the schools. The local school boards hire the teachers, manage district budgets, and implement the curriculum. So again, one issue, but three different layers. The federal government provides funding and handles civil rights enforcement, the state sets the education standards

and statewide structure, and the locality handles the daily operation of schools. So if we dumb down this entire episode into one sentence, it is this. The federal government governs national systems, states governs statewide systems, local governments govern community level systems. And understanding that structure changes how you see political debates, right? If you're upset about something happening in a classroom, that's most likely a local or state issue. That's not a federal issue. If you're debating immigration policy, that's purely federal. If you're arguing about zoning in your neighborhood, that's local. So let's say a parent is upset about a specific book being assigned in their child's public school classroom and they go on Facebook and they rant about it being the

president's fault. Well, that wouldn't be right. right, because curriculum decisions are typically set at the state level and often implemented at the local school board level. For example, Florida's parental rights in education act led to the removal of certain books in school districts in Florida. But again, that is a state issue. If someone's frustrated about immigration policy and who's legally allowed to remain in the country or who's being deported, that's an issue for the federal government. That person should know that, you know, a mayor can't change immigration policy in that way. Now, what cities and mayors can control is how local law enforcement cooperates with federal immigration enforcement.

If a resident is frustrated that their city is either cooperating too much or too little with federal immigration authorities, that's a valid critique of local government because while cities can't write their own immigration laws, they might tell local police not to ask about immigration status when someone is, you know, stopped or detained or maybe a city jail refuses to hold someone past their release date solely based on a federal immigration detainer request or a city refuses to use local resources to help immigration enforcement. All of those things are within a locality's authority to do. But again, if someone is frustrated about who can legally be in the country, that debate is happening at the federal level. That has nothing to do with the state or local level. So as you can see,

it's really important to understand the differences between the three levels of government and, you know, not only the differences, but how they work together too. So now what I want to do is end this episode with a quiz. I'm going to give you a few different scenarios and you tell me which level of government has primary authority. Rapid fire. I'll give you three seconds to answer each one. Your property taxes just went up. What level of government was responsible for that? That would be your local government, usually the county or school district. Next one. A new high school graduation requirement just got added to the local high school. What level of government is responsible for that? That would be the state.

government. States set education standards and graduation requirements. Next one. Your street just unfortunately got hit by a tornado. Who's responding first, second, and third? That would be your local government responding first, then depending on the tornado severity, the state, and then finally the federal government, if things are really bad. And the last one, a new regulation mandates that all commercial airplanes have to install a new real-time engine monitoring system. What level of government set that new standard? That would be the federal government. Aviation safety and airspace regulation are national systems.

You just can't have 50 different safety standards for aircraft flying between states. I hope you enjoyed yet another class here at Unbiased University. And if you did, please share this episode with your family, friends, and loved ones because we can all benefit from being a little more educated on topics like this one. Have a great next few days and I will see you in the next class. Thank you.