STATES CONSIDER FIRST CONFERENCE IN TWO CENTURIES

There are broad movements in this country to reassert the sovereignty of the 50 states. These activities pit the sweeping powers of the federal government against the rights of states to regulate and tend to the needs of their citizens.

Already in the current session of Congress, key issues have been unfunded mandates and welfare reform. In both cases, the federal government is being pressured rather effectively to restore to the states the wherewithal to address needs that vary dramatically from one geographic area to the next. The House of Representatives has passed legislation to require the federal government to come up with funding for legislation that requires states to carry out programs. In the case of welfare reform, the idea is to let each state take a crack at programs and policies funded, at least in part, by federal grants.

It has been more than two centuries since the states have convened to address federal issues. In 1787 delegates from the states were writing what would become the U.S. Constitution. There have never been any more meetings called by the states as a group to address national concerns.

That speaks well for the Constitution. But this venerable document is regarded as great and unprecedented largely because it is imprecise. That is, the Constitution is open to interpretation by every branch of government. Over the years, the nation has gradually drifted to a virtual stranglehold on every aspect of how states do business. Complying with federal mandates, regulations, funding rules, legislative acts and policy directives has become a nearly all-consuming reality for states. Except for ratifying constitutional amendments, the states have had very little direct control of federalism during the past 208 years.

Now state legislatures are trying to take back their sovereignty. Each state legislature -- Missouri's Senate has already acted -- is being asked to endorse a Conference of the States and to designate bipartisan delegations to the meeting. If it is held, the conference would work on an action plan to restore some balance between the federal government and the states. That plan would require final approval by each state's legislature before being sent to Congress for ratification and implementation.

There is no guarantee, of course, that such a meeting will succeed in its effort to take back control at the state level. But it is a start. The very idea that state legislatures are considering the meeting sends a signal to Washington that states have reached their limit on federalism.