Neighborhood Conservation: Political Choices Under the Community Development Block Grant Program

Neighborhood conservation is an objective widely espoused byAmerican cities. But movement from advocacy of conservationto allocation of funds for specific neighborhoods involves difficultpolitical choices for local officials who must respond to neighborhoodscompeting for scarce resources. The experience of Rochester,New York, the state's third largest city, closely parallelsthe national experience—shifts away from renewal and clearanceactivities to conservation and rehabilitation of marginal urbanneighborhoods. Over the first six years of the CDBG program,Rochester officials changed from a general, inclusive approachto neighborhood conservation to a more targeted approach. Thesechoices were shaped in response to local economic, demographicand political factors, including a well-organized network ofneighborhood organizations. The article concludes that the Rochesterexperience led to strengthened relationships between neighborhoodassociations and city hall, but evidence of stabilization andrevitalization in assisted city neighborhoods is inconclusive. ^*The author gratefully acknowledges the comments by Paul R.Dommel, Christopher Lindley and Richard P. Nathan on an earlierdraft of this article.     

The National Minimum Drinking-Age Law

The National Minimum Drinking-Age Act of 1984 was hailed bysome observers as a welcome and appropriate exercise of federalpower. However, the act also constituted an invasion of states'rights. The act stipulates a minimum legal age of 21 for thepurchase or public possession of any alcoholic beverage, andincorporates sanctions against states whose laws are not incompliance. This article evaluates the constitutional basesfor federal intergovernmental regulation in a policy area dominatedby states since the repeal of prohibition in 1933 by the Twenty-FirstAmendment. It also considers the effectiveness of policies designedto prevent alcohol-related highway deaths, and the relativemerits of federal incentives or penalties to induce desiredbehavior by the states. The article concludes that the states,for which the Reagan administration's early theme of decentralizationwas so promising, may continue to find both their federal fundsand individual autonomy seriously compromised in the foreseeablefuture.     

HAVA and the States

Two major events—the 2000 vote counting crisis in Floridaand passage of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) in October 2002—spawneda wave of federal, state, and local policy innovation and policyimplementation. The major effect of the Florida crisis was anationwide effort to analyze information on elections and todebate policy solutions. Subsequently, HAVA, the first majorelection law in U.S. history that includes federal funds forelection equipment and operations, had a more substantial effecton policy innovation and implementation. Both before and afterHAVA, election law changes have been affected by partisan considerations,policy analyses, and entrepreneurial leadership. Thus far, HAVAhas positively affected election administration, though administrativepractices and their effectiveness vary across and within thestates.     

The Deductibility of State and Local Taxes

President Reagan's tax reform proposals of May 1985 recommendedeliminating the deduction of state and local taxes in computingfederal taxable income. Arguments for and against deductibilityappeal to equity for taxpayers facing levies from multiple governmentsand to concern for the roles and responsibilities of governmentsin a federal system. Intense criticism and lobbying againstthe president's proposal was spearheaded by New York. The debatewas soon recast to emphasize the impact of change on other states,especially in the Northeast and Midwest, and the potential widespreadnegative effects on government services, especially education.The broadened base of opposition to change was sufficient tosustain deductibility in the bill passed by the House of Representativesin December 1985, illustrating that a cohesive lobbying effortinvoking the concept of federalism as a partnership can be fashionedby appealing to states on the basis of the negative consequencesof change.     

New Federalism Modified: Jobs and Highways in New York

The Job Training Partnership Act of 1982 (JTPA) and the SurfaceTransportation Assistance Act of 1983 (STAA) were intended inpart to stimulate the American economy out of recession. Eachlaw embodied a different approach to that goal and, hence, poseddifferent implementation challenges to the states. JTPA wasintended to decentralize decisionmakingand administration tothe states, and to in volve the private sector in state andlocal decisionmaking processes. Moreover,the level of federalaid was reduced below that available under its predecessor,the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA). STAA wasintended to inject increased federal funds for rebuilding roadsand highways. Its stipulation that states bring their standardsfor truck dimensions and routes into line with new nationalstandards was a centralizing feature of the legislation. Inexamining responses of the states in 1983 to these laws, particularlyNew York, decentralization appeared to be on track in the earlyimplementation of JTPA. The level of involvement of governorsand, to a lesser extent, legislatures was higher than underCETA. The implementation of STAA revealed both decentralizingand centralizing features at work. Participation of the NewYork legislature in deciding how the increased highway fundswere to be spent was much higher than before STAA, but conflictsbetween the national and state governments over the new nationalstandards were resolved in favor of the national government.     

The Implementation of HAVA in New York: From Antiques to High Tech

New York's election system, virtually intact for more than acentury, will change in 2006. New York was the last state tobring its laws in compliance with the Help America Vote Act(HAVA). What were New York's implementation choices? What accountsfor the state's "strategic delay" in responding to HAVA? Strong,competitive parties and a widespread perception that the systemwas not broken helped to maintain the status quo. Interest groups,notably voters with disabilities who contended their civil rightswere abridged, supported reform. HAVA, with its potential formore than $230 million in federal funds to replace New York'santiquated election machinery, was most important in overcomingresistance. The federal deadline for compliance forced the compromisesthat reformed most aspects of New York's election system. Pragmatismtrumped partisanship and resistance to change.     

Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities: Reinventing Federalism for Distressed Communities

Assisting communities to stimulate investment and to createjobs as part of a federal-state-local government and private-sectorpartnership is a key intergovernmental objective of the Clintonadministration, consistent with its agenda of reinventing government.The Empowerment Zones/Enterprise Cities (EZ/EC) Program, enactedby the Congress as part of the Omnibus Budget ReconciliationAct of 1993, reflects other federalism themes as well, themesthat predate the Clinton administration. A shift in federalpolicy during the 1980s, away from places and toward persons,set the stage for the long and difficult path of the EZ/EC programthrough the Congress. During that same decade, many states enactedtheir own enterprise-zone statutes; these initiatives were partof a second federalism trend—the general resurgence ofstates. The EZ/EC program also demonstrates the persistenceof partisanship in intergovernmental programs; empowerment-zoneand enterprise-community choices announced by the presidentin December 1994 reflected Clinton's need to satisfy his traditionalDemocratic constituencies.