Reading Room Document

The Federalism Accountability Act

Provisions of the proposed Federalism Accountability Act that would alter the rules under which courts determine whether Congress has preempted state law by statute or authorized preemption by regulation could have far reaching and unintended consequences and should only be enacted if Congress determines that existing preemption doctrine has systematically frustrated congressional intent and that statutory rules of construction would produce better results. Provisions of the bill that would instruct courts to resolve ambiguities in federal law in favor of preserving the authority of the states could frustrate the intentions of Congress and rulemaking agencies and should not be enacted. The OLC does not provide release dates for its opinions, so the release date listed is the date on which the opinion was authored. The original opinion is available at www.justice.gov/file/19511/download.

July 14, 1999