Federal Government’s Control Over Local Governments And Organizations [POLL]

Have local governments and organizations across the country become too dependent on federal funding?  Many programs and laws are designed to fit federal regulations so they can get more money from the federal government.  But is it worth the effort?

Word came out recently that the federal government would stop providing funding for the Bossier Sheriff's youth programs because they included prayer in the program.  Bossier Sheriff Julian Whittington says he will not change is program to conform to federal restrictions.

The Young Marines Program was almost completely funded by the federal government, which means the Sheriff's office is looking for other ways to fund the program.

Whittington told KEEL News that the program has been in existence for 10 years and has helped 1,000 people.

So far, he says there has been a large amount of public support in finding alternate ways to fund the program and that he is working with area politicians to get the issue rectified.

There are many laws we see locally across the country that we think are federal restrictions, but are actually local laws influenced by the federal government.  The biggest example is the drinking age.

Many states in America before 1984 had a drinking age of 18.  This changed with the introduction of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 by the late Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-New Jersey).  This act required states to enforce a minimum drinking age of 21.

The problem with the law is that is would infringe on states' 10th Amendment right to enforce its own laws.  To get around that hitch, the act was written so that if states did not enforce the suggested drinking age, states would lose 10% of their federal highway construction funds.

Currently, every state has a minimum drinking age of 21, but Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands both maintain a drinking age of 18.