Earlier this month, on Constitution Day, LD27 Representative Lisa Fink submitted an opinion piece to The Arizona Capitol Times. Fink preached the importance of the separation of powers, enshrined in the Constitution, and went on to explain her view that states must claw back control from federal Washington. I couldn’t agree more with the sentiment; however, the hypocrisy of Fink, her party, and her voting record is irksome. So on First Amendment Day, I’m exercising my right to free speech (while we still have it) to push back on some of Rep. Fink’s sanctimonious thoughts. 

I’m a former President Reagan appointee. I believe in the separation of powers wholeheartedly. But what I found rich was Fink’s high-handed argument for throwing off the influence of Washington in state decisions when President Trump has issued executive orders, telling the DOJ to block or roll back state climate laws. What say you, Rep. Fink? The President has engaged in aggressive efforts to withhold federal funding if states do not comply with his preferred guidelines on a range of issues, particularly when it comes to elections, despite climbing public confidence in Arizona election integrity. Is Rep. Fink appalled by such actions? Trump has moved to centralize control of election operations and eliminate vote-by-mail, something that flies in the face of states’ rights. Where is Rep. Fink to denounce such actions? 

I would ask Rep. Fink, if the states are the guardians of liberty, as James Madison believed, then why does the President try to block state climate regulations, which are aimed at protecting public health and the environment, matters that clearly affect citizens locally more than the federal government?

Fink claims states should reclaim authority when federal laws stray beyond proper bounds, but what does Fink have to say about troops being dispatched to cities across the country? Apparently nothing. Moreover, Fink and her colleagues have indeed applauded and stood by when Republicans pushed for federal mandates on issues like education standards, immigration enforcement, or reproductive rights, overriding the same state discretion Fink claims to champion. So which is it, Representative? 

I think what Rep. Fink really prefers is states’ rights only when Republicans fully control it. She prefers selective federalism. I believe Rep. Fink wants to sound like a common-sense, Constitution-first conservative. But the truth is, she’s kowtowing to the overreach of this administration and an extremist legislature.

It was my old boss, Ronald Reagan, who said, “I believe in states’ rights. And I believe that we’ve distorted the balance of our government today by giving powers that were never intended in the Constitution to that federal establishment.”  He warned that, “The greatest threat to freedom, even in today’s perilous times, comes from no foreign foe. It comes from a dangerous habit many of our leaders fell into […] letting the power and the resources that are the basis of freedom slip from the grassroots of America into the hands of a remote central authority.” 

I am a Democrat now because I recognize that the Republican Party of Reagan is no more. The framers designed a system of checks and balances. They could never have imagined a scenario in which an entire party, with state and federal members, enabled the behavior of one man to run roughshod over states’ rights, the Constitution, and our American values. Yet here we are. Congress has failed to check the President’s unilateral moves on tariffs that are gutting our economy and raising costs. We have no courageous leaders willing to push back on executive heavy-handedness and address the rise in unemployment in Maricopa County. 

So in closing, given her track record, Rep. Fink’s states’ rights rhetoric rings hollow. We need states’ rights, but we also need leaders who speak the truth. When platitudes are spewed by someone ignoring egregious federal overreach, someone should exercise their First Amendment right to call it out. 

Deborah Howard served as a special assistant in the U.S. Department of Labor under President Reagan and is a candidate for the Arizona House of Representatives, LD27.