Upholding states’ rights and local control are worthy causes

Recently some organizations have called on Congress to nationalize a bidding process for local infrastructure projects. This sounds like something that slices at the very heart of conservativism, erasing the gains we’ve made on limiting the role of the federal government to prevent bureaucrats in Washington, D.C., from stomping over states’ rights.

Congress is no stranger to special interests. As lawmakers begin the hard work of creating a legislative package to address shortcomings and necessary repairs to aging infrastructure, groups from a multitude of industries will be jockeying for their share of the pie. There will likely be the same kind of regional cooperation that we see during negotiations for the Farm Bill as congressional delegations promote local and statewide needs. Other massive projects that are a part of critical transportation routes will be highlighted in studies and even media reports. Bridges and highways tend to draw a lot of focus in the infrastructure debate.

{mosads}But water infrastructure is just as important as highways and byways used for commutes, errands or vacations. Drinking water affects you and your loved ones every single day. The hundreds of thousands of miles of pipes that run under our communities and deliver drinking water greatly contribute to the safety of towns and cities. We need only to look at the tragedy in Flint, Mich., to remember how precarious it is not to have clean water flowing from our faucets. It may seem strange for a Republican to agree with the head of the Environmental Protection Agency, but we’re in a new era in Washington, and Administrator Scott Pruitt was entirely correct when he encouraged the National League of Cities’ Congressional Cities Conference to include water projects in their requests. 

At the local level, municipal governments are looking at their own budgets and trying to determine the most pressing needs for their communities. Pipe projects are complicated and can be costly. What’s costlier is when pipe projects are done improperly and taxpayers wind up choking on the follow-on expenses. Not all pipes are created equally, and it is of the utmost importance that local engineers, utility workers and other professionals involved in these projects have the authority to select the right materials for their communities. 

But what I’ve seen happening in several states, is an effort to deny those professionals the ability to use their knowledge to select the most appropriate material for the job.

But that’s not good enough for special interests who have tried – and failed – to get lawmakers in 14 states to pass procurement laws that would actually limit local professionals’ ability to make decisions about their local water infrastructure. Because state policymakers have rebuffed these attempts so far, special interests are now petitioning Congress to pass a federal law. But that’s the complete opposite of what a Republican Congress should do.

Federal lawmakers are in a position to clear out layers of red tape and let local municipalities know that they are in charge of making decisions on projects for their communities. A federal law will only add more bureaucracy and make it harder and more expensive to construct the infrastructure we need, and the right infrastructure to withstand the specific conditions and hazards of Nature that are present in each community. This is about local decision-making, after all, and for the right materials to meet specific, local, and technical needs to effectively convey safe drinking water.

These special interests have been exposed at the state level and have been rejected every time they tried to put limits on judgment of project professionals. Local governments have been clear that they do not want – because they do not need – these laws. It would be inappropriate for Congress to put down the heavy foot of the federal government against such a strong statement of local control. Congress should reject these special interests and make sure that local water infrastructure professionals remain in charge of their communities’ projects.

Darren Bearson, the president of Compass Point Strategies, was the executive director of the Ohio Republican Party from March 2011 to May 2012.

The views expressed by this author are their own and are not the views of The Hill.