Presidential Documents
43255
Federal Register
Vol. 64, No. 153
Tuesday, August 10, 1999
Title 3—
The President
Executive Order 13132 of August 4, 1999
Federalism
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the
laws of the United States of America, and in order to guarantee the division
of governmental responsibilities between the national government and the
States that was intended by the Framers of the Constitution, to ensure
that the principles of federalism established by the Framers guide the execu-tive
departments and agencies in the formulation and implementation of
policies, and to further the policies of the Unfunded Mandates Reform
Act, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Definitions. For purposes of this order:
(a) ‘‘Policies that have federalism implications’’ refers to regulations, legis-lative
comments or proposed legislation, and other policy statements or
actions that have substantial direct effects on the States, on the relationship
between the national government and the States, or on the distribution
of power and responsibilities among the various levels of government.
(b) ‘‘State’’ or ‘‘States’’ refer to the States of the United States of America,
individually or collectively, and, where relevant, to State governments, in-cluding
units of local government and other political subdivisions established
by the States.
(c) ‘‘Agency’’ means any authority of the United States that is an ‘‘agency’’
under 44 U.S.C. 3502(1), other than those considered to be independent
regulatory agencies, as defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(5).
(d) ‘‘State and local officials’’ means elected officials of State and local
governments or their representative national organizations.
Sec. 2. Fundamental Federalism Principles. In formulating and implementing
policies that have federalism implications, agencies shall be guided by the
following fundamental federalism principles:
(a) Federalism is rooted in the belief that issues that are not national
in scope or significance are most appropriately addressed by the level of
government closest to the people.
(b) The people of the States created the national government and delegated
to it enumerated governmental powers. All other sovereign powers, save
those expressly prohibited the States by the Constitution, are reserved to
the States or to the people.
(c) The constitutional relationship among sovereign governments, State
and national, is inherent in the very structure of the Constitution and is
formalized in and protected by the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution.
(d) The people of the States are free, subject only to restrictions in the
Constitution itself or in constitutionally authorized Acts of Congress, to
define the moral, political, and legal character of their lives.
(e) The Framers recognized that the States possess unique authorities,
qualities, and abilities to meet the needs of the people and should function
as laboratories of democracy.