Bishop Introduces the Utah Laboratory of Democracy Act

Today, Congressman Rob Bishop (UT-01) introduced the Utah Laboratory of Democracy Act.  The legislation closely mirrors the proposal described in Utah Senate President Michael Waddoups and Utah House Speaker David Clark's recent Op-Ed in the Washington Post.  It would allow the state of Utah to assume full responsibility for programs in the areas of education, transportation, and Medicaid. 

"The federal government has inserted itself into every aspect of our lives with one-size-fits-all rules and regulations.  The Utah Laboratory of Democracy Act is the first of many proposals I intend to support that will begin to disperse power from Washington back to the people, states and local entities," said Congressman Bishop.  

The introduction of the Utah legislation came on the heels of Congressman Bishop and other Members of Congress officially launching the 10th Amendment Task Force.  The new Task Force, a project of the Republican Study Committee, was formed to educate Congress and the public and promote the principle of federalism and limited government. 
 
"This legislation would help realign the proper balance of government by allowing Utah to operate these three programs more efficiently and productively without the federal strings and mandates.  Doing this will help ensure that the delivery of government services will be tailored to Utah's unique needs and ensure the programs are more responsive to both the people they're meant to help and the people who pay for them," Bishop added.  "The hope is that the ‘modest experiment' proposed by Speaker Clark and Senate President Waddoups will start a serious national discussion about federalism and the proper role of government."

The agreements proposed in this legislation would empower Utah to implement innovative, state-specific policies utilizing the state's portion of federal revenues for these programs, minus all federal mandates, regulations, and oversight.

Former Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis once said, "It is one of the happy incidents of the federal system that a single courageous State may, if its citizens choose, serve as a laboratory; and try novel social and economic experiments …"

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