From an American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) press release yesterday:

The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), the nation’s largest nonpartisan, individual membership association of state legislators, recently passed a Resolution Opposing Federal Mandates on Unemployment Insurance. The resolution opposes the required federal changes which would expand eligibility of unemployment insurance and move the system toward a federally controlled social welfare program.

Governors of several states, including Alaska, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas and South Carolina, have already indicated they will reject federal stimulus funds because the American Recovery Reinvestment Act, ARRA, required changes to state laws which will increase spending, result in increased taxes, and create future budget liabilities. ALEC legislators strongly oppose forcing states, as a condition of federal funding, to change state unemployment insurance laws.

“The federal government is encroaching into our every day lives at an alarming rate, from dictating how we teach our children to funding federal initiatives that many believe to be immoral, over-regulating and taxing our citizenry, meddling in our personal lives and interfering with the affairs of our state. We must stop this unchecked growth of the government before it’s too late. State legislators must lead the fight because the power the federal government is illegally assuming is ours,” said Mississippi State Representative Steve Palazzo, and ALEC member.

Michael Boldin