ROANOKE TIMES

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, October 14, 1993                   TAG: 9403180008
SECTION: EDITORIAL                    PAGE: A-14   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium


MICROMANAGING BY MANDATE

LIKE HIM or lump him, President Clinton more than any other recent president is trying to restore citizens' faith in the federal government and its ability to efficiently spend the huge sums of money it collects each year.

Trying, we said.

For all his efforts - serving up reform packages almost daily, calling for "reinvention" of the massive machinery of bureaucracy - there's little evidence that Clinton has yet succeeded in convincing Americans that improvement is here or imminent. To the contrary, Americans remain highly skeptical.

In the latest poll by the U.S. Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations, the trust quota for the federal government was the lowest in the 20 years that the commission has been conducting such polls.

Conversely, the poll found confidence in local governments to be the highest in 20 years.

Forty-three percent of respondents said they believe local governments spend tax dollars more wisely than do either the federal government or state governments. Twenty-six percent felt local governments gave them the most for their money.

To be sure, 43 percent and 26 percent don't look like overwhelming votes of confidence. But they look good comparatively.

Only 11 percent ranked the feds best at spending tax dollars; 19 percent gave states the edge. In terms of getting their money's worth, 23 percent said the federal government best delivered; 20 percent chose the states.

And if the trust quota for all levels of government seems exceedingly low - well, it figures. For years now, cynics and tax revolters and self-described "outsider" politicians have drummed the message: Government is, by nature, a beast that can do no right. The message is reinforced, of course, when government does waste money, make mistakes, act foolishly.

Still, the poll suggests that local governments are regarded as somewhat more honorable beasts, which comes at a fortuitous time for them. They're on the warpath against micromanagement from Washington and state capitals - and, in particular, the increasing number of unfunded mandates imposed upon them by federal and state governments.

In Virginia, the General Assembly's Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission has estimated that local governments are subject to 391 such mandates. Not only do these mandates require local governments to raise and spend money for programs and policies in which they have no say, local officials complain, but they also leave many cities, counties and towns strapped for funds to provide local services.

To draw attention to their plight, thousands of local-government officials are expected to gather Oct. 27 in Richmond and at other capitals of "higher government" around the country for a nationwide Unfunded Mandates Day.

It's not just the money, say representatives of the Virginia Municipal League and the Virginia Association of Counties; it's the principle of the thing. Mandates from afar undermine the ability of local elected officials to lead their communities. They also dictate a one-size-fits-all approach that plainly doesn't always work to meet the mandates' intended goals. In turn, this weakens trust in all levels of government.

The complainers have a point. That's not to say that all federal and state mandates are bad: Some are clearly necessary, and establish minimum levels of programs and services that local government ought to be providing.

But it's easy for a politician in Washington or Richmond to impose mandates too readily and too recklessly on local governments - without regard to how local governments can pay for them, and without giving local governments the flexibility to make them work well.

The commission's poll may help. Legislators in Washington and Richmond should take note. If the public believes local governments can spend public funds more wisely than the state and federal governments, maybe it's time for long-distance legislators to cool their micromanagement-by-mandate fevers.



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