With the states still wrestling with fallout from the national recession, it comes as no surprise that they are complaining about what they perceive as a glut of unfunded federal mandates. A report compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures predicts the states will incur payouts totaling at least $29.7 billion this year, and fear was expressed that the total could actually be much higher.

A 1995 federal law sought to put an end to laws carrying unfunded mandates, but the legislatures organization alleges that the teeth in that law have been dulled by exemptions, conditions placed on federal grants to the states, and Congress' failure to fully fund all of the laws it passes.

It's not a situation unheard-of in Pennsylvania's local-level municipalities and school districts, all of whom complain about how the state hands down additional costs to them that burdens their budgets.

In a perfect world, mandates would come fully funded by the issuing entity, but this is far from a perfect world.

Pennsylvania's 501 school districts, in particular, complain about the financial pressures with which they must deal because of new requirements being imposed by the state without the necessary money attached.

The feds should look more closely at what is happening from their vantage point, even though the Congressional Budget Office continues its state of denial that the situation is as bad as the State Legislatures Conference alleges.

Although the CBO claims to have found virtually no evidence of unfunded mandates, its response to the states nevertheless touched on some of the states' complaints about loopholes in the federal law. The CBO found that more than 600 federal proposals between 1996 and 2002 carried the prospect of additional costs on state and local governments while technically falling outside the classification of "mandate."

According to Michael Bird, NCSL's federal affairs counsel, the new No Child Left Behind education law and homeland security programs might be voluntary, but the states can't simply ignore them.

Special education requirements filtering down from Washington make up about one-third of the $29.7 billion about which the states are upset.

In all, the unfunded-mandates burden is estimated to account for at least 6 percent of the states' total general fund spending.

"It is a fairly significant problem," said Pennsylvania state Rep. David J. Steil, R-Bucks County, who helped craft the NCSL report. "It's quite easy to define a need, and then push it down to local governments to pay for it."

Steil should use the knowledge and perspective he has gained from working on the NCSL report to keep reminding his General Assembly colleagues that they sometimes are guilty of the same kind of injustice toward lower levels of government.

Beyond full funding of mandates, there is no easy solution to this issue. But as the states are now fully cognizant, the challenge of unfunded mandates is significantly more formidable in times of recession, when money is more scarce - times like now.

The unfunded-mandates impact on the states is expected to rise to $34.2 billion next year. It's not a soothing prospect as financially burdened states, including Pennsylvania, and financially strapped local communities continue battling an economy that continues to resist a full rebound.

- J.R.K.