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Former Vice President Mike Pence announced Wednesday that if elected president, his administration would embark on a significant effort to move more power to the states — limiting the federal government’s authority over welfare and housing programs, as well as in health care and education.
“I know that states are not subsidiaries of Washington, DC. States are not subordinate departments of the federal government,” Pence said Wednesday at the National Conference of State Legislatures’ Legislative Summit in Indianapolis, where he unveiled his new policy proposal.
“Our 50 states are the very foundation of our republic, and let me say with deep conviction, when states are free, America thrives.”
Under Pence’s proposal, federal funding for welfare and housing assistance would be converted into block grants given to the states, and the federal government would be prohibited from passing regulations with what Pence called “unfunded mandates on the states.”
The proposal also includes a plan to eliminate the Department of Education — something Pence, like several of his Republican presidential primary opponents, calls for often on the campaign trail.
He proposes returning the agency’s funds to the states with the mandate that states must expand school choice.
Pence’s plan would also take aim at the Affordable Care Act, eliminating mandates and giving the states grants to replace federal insurance subsidies and health care for low-income Americans.
“We’re going to repeal all Obamacare mandates and give states the power to implement health care assistance programs to the benefit of their people to reduce the cost of health insurance,” Pence said to a room of Republican state lawmakers at the summit's Republican breakfast.
The plan also calls on the federal government to sell federal land to the states and give states control over Highway Trust Fund spending.
Pence’s plan to limit federal government power was his third policy proposal as a presidential candidate — after releasing plans on inflation and energy.