By Chris Bosch
“Home Rule Provisions” in the constitutions of some states provide cities with the authority to adopt local laws and regulations, so long as they do not directly conflict with general state laws that uniformly target statewide actors and activities. Three ongoing debates in Ohio, Iowa, and New York consider the impact of these provisions in state, agency, and city efforts to regulate traffic safety.
In Ohio, Cleveland.com reports that some believe that recently proposed state legislation to ban traffic cameras, except in school zones, would fail in court as it improperly infringes upon Ohio cities’ home rule authority to decide whether or not to utilize the cameras within their borders. Recent Ohio Supreme Court precedent supports the pro-home rule position.
In Iowa, the Quad-City Times reports that city officials are questioning whether the State’s Department of Transportation has the authority to impose state regulation on the operation of automated traffic enforcement devices. They argue that only laws passed by the state legislature – not agency rules – can infringe on Iowa cities’ home rule authority in this manner. The implied issue of political accountability confusion that results when agency rules are likened to state laws for the purposes of home rule analysis is a valid point of concern.
In New York, state law prevents cities from setting a speed limit below thirty miles per hour, except in school zones. According to the Epoch Times, that isn’t stopping Mayor De Blasio and others from pushing for the state legislature to grant more home rule authority in lowering the city’s speed limits and expanding the use of red light cameras to enhance traffic safety.
The traffic safety home rule issues presented in these three instances highlight the ongoing legal debate over if, and to what extent, home rule authority is an inherent right of cities or, as Joe Stinson puts it, “held by the grace of the state.”
Sources
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2014/02/bill_to_ban_traffic_cameras_ma.html
http://www.legislature.state.oh.us/constitution.cfm?Part=18&Section=03
http://www.cleveland.com/open/index.ssf/2014/01/in_victory_for_home_rule_supre.html
http://qctimes.com/traffic/iowa-rules-on-traffic-cameras-take-effect-next-week/article_dbfc56e8-abc2-5cf2-99e0-a86959da66e5.html
http://publications.iowa.gov/9883/1/CONSTITUTION_OF_THE_STATE_OF_IOWA.pdf
http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/LAWSSEAF.cgi?QUERYTYPE=LAWS+&QUERYDATA=$$VAT1643$$@TXVAT01643+&LIST=SEA2+&BROWSER=BROWSER+&TOKEN=46166168+&TARGET=VIEW
http://www.theepochtimes.com/n3/486830-nyc-red-light-cameras-up-for-reauthorization/
http://landuse.law.pace.edu/landuse/documents/PublishedArticle/Reg2/NYSHomeRuleAuthority.doc