Discussion: Mandate Laws and the Governments That Impose Them
In the United States, one of the chief manifestations of fiscal federalism is the creation of federal mandates, which are orders from the federal government requiring state and local governments to implement policies or regulations. Examples of federal mandates include the Affordable Health Care Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements and the Real ID Act, which requires states to incorporate security features into drivers licenses and identification cards. The Unfunded Mandates Act of 1995, with certain threshold requirements, discourages the federal government from placing new mandates on state and local governments without providing the necessary funding and requires cost estimates of new mandates. However, federal mandates still affect the budget and financial situations of public organizations by, for example, restricting fiscal autonomy and excessive costs.

In this Discussion, you identify a mandate law and analyze the impact of the law on the fiscal and budgetary operations of public organizations. Review the Learning Resources for this week. The Urban Institute has a number of articles that discuss the impact of the Affordable Health Care Act on the states. Then, select a law made by a superior level government that imposes mandates on lower levels of government, and reflect on intergovernmental finance and fiscal relations in public organizations.

With these thoughts in mind:

By Day 4
Post an example of mandate law that has had a significant impact on state or local governments. First, describe the mandate law you selected. Next, describe the effects of the mandate law, such as the ACA, on the fiscal and budgetary operations of the state or local governments. In your analysis, specify whether the impact is positive or negative and explain why.