Subject:  Demise of the "Slick Willey" Manifesto......
Date:     Thu, 6 Aug 1998 115933 -0500 (CDT)
From:     "Roy L. Beavers" <rbeavers@llion.org>
To:       emfguru@hotmail.com
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05:40 PM ET 08/05/98

Clinton suspends order that angered states

        
            By Randall Mikkelsen
            WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Clinton Wednesday suspended
a controversial set of guidelines that had been criticized for
giving the federal government too much leeway to make
regulations that affect states.
            The executive order on ``federalism,'' issued by Clinton May
14, had been criticized by local officials and some
Congressional Republicans for stripping previous protections
against federal interference and for being developed without
adequate consultations.
            White House spokesman Barry Toiv said the administration did
not believe the order, which was to have taken effect in
mid-August, had made significant changes in previous policy, but
said it is willing to take a new look at the guidelines.
            ``The suspension of the order will provide an opportunity
for administration officials to sit down with representatives of
state and local governments and hear their views and see how
they might be accommodated,'' Toiv said.
            He said the White House was anxious to begin the process as
soon as possible since the old orders remained on the books.
            The suspended order was meant to update previous orders
issued by former President Ronald Reagan and by Clinton, which
set out guidelines for assessing the impact of federal
regulations on state and local governments.
            Supreme Court decisions and Congressional legislation on
such issues had made the update necessary, Toiv said.
            The orders had their root in Reagan's ``New Federalism''
campaign to limit federal authority and return more power to the
states.
            But last month representatives of major state-and-local
government organizations sharply criticized the administration
for not consulting them while developing the new order -- an
irony in that the guidelines specify local officials should be
consulted on regulations affecting them.
            Republican lawmakers had also criticized the new order for
eliminating requirements that federal agencies refrain from
imposing national standards for programs whenever possible. The
White House disputed that criticism, saying legislation passed
by Congress already makes that requirement.
        
 ^REUTERS@




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Reprinted with permission of Roy Beavers, http://www.feb.se/EMF-L/EMF-L.html