Unfunded Federal Mandate Research Paper

During the 1960s most U.S. states established 21 as the Minimum Legal Drinking Age, also known as MLDA. Since a few states still kept their MLDA at 18 Congress passed the Uniform Drinking Age Act; which stated that the federal government would not give any highway funds unless those states whose MLDA has not been changed to 21 would change to 21. Ever since the

Everyone in today’s society knows that the minimum legal drinking age in the U.S. is 21. But nobody really knows why. In the year 1984, President Reagan informed the states that if they didn’t change their drinking age to 21, they would lose 10% of their federal funding for their highways(Why is the Drinking Age 21?). In fear of losing their funding, all the states changed their MLDA (minimum legal drinking age) to 21, instead of 18. Some people were outraged that the age had been raised, and believed that if they were 18+ whenever the law was changed, they should still be able to purchase alcohol. However, the states disagreed. There are many different opinions on the MLDA. Many people believe that it should be lowered back down to 18, while some people believe even 21 is almost too young. But what are these people’s arguments?

As most people living in the United States already know, the national minimum age for purchasing alcohol is twenty-one. However, prior to the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984, some states lowered the drinking age below 21 (mainly as a result of the lowered voting age). The Drinking Age Act was put into place as a result of a correlation between young drinking and motor vehicle fatalities. Under the provisions of the Act, any states with a minimum drinking age below 21 are subject to a 10% cut in highway funding from the federal government. The United States is one of only a few countries with a drinking age as high as 21; the majority of countries

Since its beginning, the United States of America has gradually and steadily expanded the oversight and power of its own federal government. This expansion has resulted in a plethora of effects on the relationship between local state government and federal government both negative and positive. However, the increased impingement from the federal government onto local and state government constitutional rights, has created an imbalance. A major part of this imbalance has stemmed from unfunded mandates being imposed upon states. This imbalance has caused enough problems between the states and the federal government that the states have not only begun to question if federal mandates should go unfunded, but also whether or not the federal government has the authority to impose these mandates in the first place.

On July 17 the United States Congress passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984. Signed by President Ronald Regan, which requires that states prohibit people under the age of 21 from purchasing or publicly process alcoholic beverages as a condition of receiving State highway funds. Initially intended as a comprehensive approach to reduce the number of alcohol related deaths on the nations highways. Not prohibiting a person under 21 from drinking under certain exceptions some such as religious purposes, when accompanied by a parent, spouse or legal guardian age 21 or older and medical purposes to name a few. Increasing the minimum legal drinking age has caused more chaos and harm than good due to the amount of restrictions relating to the initial purpose.

I. Introduction: Starting in 1970 21 states reduced the minimum drinking age to 18. Another 8 reduced it to 19 or 20. However, these states noticed increases in alcohol-related fatalities among teenagers and young adults. As a result, of the 29 states that had lowered their drinking age, 24 raised the age again between 1976 and 1984. By 1984, only three states allowed 18-year-olds to drink all types of alcoholic liquor. The enactment of the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 prompted states to raise their legal age for purchase or public possession of alcohol to 21 or risk losing millions in federal highway funds. The states who raised it were given highway funding by the

On July 17th, 1984, President Reagan passed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act (1). This meant that in order to purchase and publicly posses alcohol, one must be twenty-one years old (1). Today, many push for a reversion back to a drinking age of eighteen years old. The reasons on both sides are many, and all of them will be explored and diagnosed. As the reasons pile on, though, it will become clear that the drinking age should return to eighteen.

Technically, the National Minimum Drinking Age Act didn’t force the states to conform to a federal uniform minimum drinking age. Instead of overstepping the boundaries of states right by simply making a federal law that outlaws anyone under 21

On July 17 of 1984 President Ronald Reagan signed to make the National Minimum Drinking Age Act a law. This law required all states to have a minimum drinking age of 21, if a state did not comply with this law they could face up to a 10% cut in funding for their federal highways (Tietjen). Since this act became a law there has been two distinct sides arguing whether they agree with the minimum drinking age, or whether they disagree. One side believes having a minimum drinking age makes alcohol seem like a “forbidden fruit” of sorts and because people always want what they can’t have, a minimum drinking age makes underage drinking an even bigger problem. The other side of this argument is basically that if a

Towards the end of the 1970 the President and the government were concerned about the legal drinking age. When the President, Ronald Reagan noticed the ridiculous amount of public health and safety issues he passed an act. For instance in 1982, President Ronald Reagan confronted a Presidential Commission officer on Drunk Driving because of the research that he found on younger drinking ages that had increased alcohol-related highway deaths. It was about thirty years ago when President Reagan passed a law in 1984, called the minimum drinking age act. The minimum drinking age act required America’s states to raise the age to 21 for purchasing and having public possession of alcohol by October 1986. For each state that don’t follow this law

In all 50 states the minimum legal drinking age is 21 and has been since after the Vietnam War (“Addressing the Minimum Legal Drinking Age in College Communities”). During the Vietnam War, arguments spread about how the legal drinking age should correspond with the draft age of 18 (“Addressing the Minimum Legal Drinking Age in College Communities”). After reports of drunk driving accidents and deaths with younger ages, President Ronald Reagan issued to have the MLDA raised to 21-years-old (“Addressing the Minimum Legal Drinking Age in College Communities”). “In 1984, 23 states had minimum alcohol purchasing ages of 21 year old, and on July 17th of that year, President Ronald Reagan signed legislation to withhold federal highway funds from the

In order to prevent more deaths, 24 of the 29 states that had originally lowered their drinking age quickly raised the age back to 21 between 1976 and 1984. In 1984, there were still three states left that still allowed 18-year-olds to drink any and all types of alcoholic liquor. The other remaining states had adopted some sort of stair-step age requirement policy that was based on the type of liquor being consumed with higher levels of alcohol requiring higher ages to drink. Federal transportation authorities viewed this wide range of varying state laws as a real safety problem for all roads and traffic. Alcohol-related traffic injuries or deaths were increasing and many of these accidents were a result of kids traveling from their home states to neighboring states that had lower drinking ages and then becoming injured or killed as they returned to their home states drunk. These borders to states that had differing drinking ages and many accidents became known as “blood borders” for obvious reasons. Congress wanted a solution so they enacted the National Minimum Drinking Age Act which was recommended by President Reagan’s Commission on Drunk Driving in 1984. States were going to lose 10% of their federal highway funds unless they raised the minimum drinking age in their state to 21 for all alcoholic beverages. All the states had complied after a short time so that now all 50 states have a minimum drinking age of 21. There is

voluntarily set their minimum drinking age law at 21, some states were 18 in accordance to the

The United States’ minimum legal drinking age (MLDA) of twenty one is almost a perfect example of a policy with unrealistic expectations and serious unintended consequences. The current policy that the United States has in effect criminalizes youth who consume alcohol at less than twenty one years of age. Young adults are going to drink under twenty one, so why shouldn’t the United States lower the MLDA to eighteen? Following Prohibition in 1933, many states made their MLDA twenty one. During the 1960’s and 1970’s, many states lowered it to eighteen to match the drafting age (Alcohol Policy MD). President Reagan passed The National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984 which required all states to raise their minimum purchase and public

It is crucial for the evaluation of a policy that the law is closely followed, so that policymakers and other government officials can better understand and improve society. Further, morality is not a set, constant thing, and is not even agreed upon within a society with its own laws. If everyone believed that a law was ingenuine when contrary to morality, every law would go unfollowed by a subset of the population whose morals differ from the majority. Thus, it seems imperative to me that we follow the law when it is immoral, and seek justice and change in the law with the policymakers (assuming a democratic