In the United States , an interstate compact is a pact or agreement between two or more states , or between states and any foreign sub-national government.
21-647: The New York–Pennsylvania Joint Interstate Bridge Commission , or simply the Joint Interstate Bridge Commission , is an interstate agency jointly owned by the states of New York and Pennsylvania . The commission was formed in 1919 by the two states to manage the crossings of the Delaware River that connected them. It currently maintains and operates 10 toll-free bridges from the New Jersey–Pennsylvania state line to
42-479: A compact. Congress must explicitly approve any compact that would give a state power that is otherwise designated to the federal government . Treaties between the states, ratified under the Articles of Confederation during the period after American independence in 1776 until the current U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1789, are grandfathered and treated as interstate compacts. This includes agreements like
63-414: A new multi-state governmental agency which is responsible for administering or improving some shared resource such as a seaport or public transportation infrastructure. Compacts may also be limited to a certain multi-state region, may be open to all states and insular areas, or may be open to subnational governments in other countries. Interstate compacts are distinct from, but may involve aspects of,
84-418: A third, more-empowered type of interstate compact, in which persistent governance structures are tasked by member states with conducting designated services. Today, Virginia is a member of the most interstate compacts at 40, while Hawaii is a member of the fewest at 15. Florida v. Georgia (1855) Florida v. Georgia , 58 U.S. (17 How.) 478 (1854), was a United States Supreme Court case invoking
105-598: Is not required for agreements "which the United States can have no possible objection or have any interest in interfering with" (in addition to ruling that the words "agreement" and "compact" used in the Compact Clause are synonyms). Instead, the Court required explicit congressional consent for interstate compacts that are "directed to the formation of any combination tending to the increase of political power in
126-572: The Apalachicola River , at a point now under Lake Seminole ), then very slightly south of due east to the source of the St. Mary's River , which was the point specified in Pinckney's Treaty in 1795. That eastern point of the straight line was near Ellicott mound, which was erected in 1799 at "about 30° 34' N." The McNeil line was looked upon for more than 20 years as the proper location of
147-582: The Treaty of Beaufort , which set the boundary between Georgia and South Carolina in 1787, and is still in effect. Prior to 1922, most interstate compacts were either border agreements between states or advisory compacts, the latter of which are tasked with conducting joint studies to report back to the respective state legislatures. With the creation of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey in 1922, administrative compacts began to develop as
168-912: The United States Constitution provides that "No State shall, without the Consent of Congress ,... enter into any Agreement or Compact with another State, or with a foreign Power,..." However, in a report released in October 2019 about the proposed National Popular Vote Interstate Compact , the Congressional Research Service (CRS) cited the U.S. Supreme Court 's ruling in Virginia v. Tennessee (1893)—reaffirmed in U.S. Steel Corp. v. Multistate Tax Commission (1978) and Cuyler v. Adams (1981)—that ruled that explicit congressional consent of interstate compacts
189-489: The Compact Clause. The CRS report stated that there were approximately 200 interstate compacts in effect in 2019. The timing for Congressional consent is not specified by the Constitution, so consent may be given either before or after the states have agreed to a particular compact. The consent may be explicit, but it may also be inferred from circumstances. Congress may also impose conditions as part of its approval of
210-570: The Constitution is legislative, then "Congress must exercise it in conformity with the bicameralism and presentment requirements of Article I, Section VII ", and noting that the Republican River Compact was initially vetoed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1942, the CRS report states that if an interstate compact requires explicit congressional approval, it must be approved by both houses of Congress and signed into law by
231-454: The Court's original jurisdiction to determine boundary disputes between states. In this case the boundary dispute was between the State of Florida and the State of Georgia . Florida claimed that the state line was a straight line (called McNeil's line , for the man who surveyed it for the U.S. government in 1825) from the confluence of Georgia's Chattahoochee and Flint rivers (forming
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#1732802132190252-455: The Ellicott mound. Other Supreme Court cases involving Georgia boundary disputes include: State of Alabama v. State of Georgia , 64 U.S. 505 (1860), and two Georgia v. South Carolina cases in 1922 and 1990. Chief Justice Taney delivered the opinion of the Court, ruling in favor of Florida and setting the state boundary line along "McNeil's line." This outcome was followed in 1859 by
273-531: The President in order to become law. In Cuyler v. Adams , the Court held that congressional approval of interstate compacts makes them federal laws . The CRS report cites the Court's opinions in Virginia v. Tennessee and Northeast Bancorp v. Federal Reserve Board of Governors (1985) as stating that any agreement between two or more states that "cover[s] all stipulations affecting the conduct or claims of
294-590: The States, which may encroach upon or interfere with the just supremacy of the United States"—meaning where the vertical balance of power between the federal government and state governments is altered in favor of state governments, while the report references U.S. Steel Corp. v. Multistate Tax Commission as stating that the "pertinent inquiry [with respect to the Compact Clause] is one of potential, rather than actual, impact on federal supremacy" in noting that
315-453: The boundary. Georgia claimed that the headwaters of the St. Mary's River were at the source of the southern branch, some 30 miles or nearly 50 kilometers south, at Lake Spalding or Lake Randolph. If upheld, Georgia would have obtained additional territory estimated at 800 to 2,355 square miles. The position of the U.S. commissioners was that the actual source of the St. Mary's was two miles north of
336-768: The end of Pennsylvania and New York's shared border along the Delaware River. In 1919, an idea for a commission to manage the bridges between New York and Pennsylvania was proposed by state officials. A meeting was called by the New York Commission in May 1919 to establish the New York–Pennsylvania Joint Interstate Bridge Commission. Promptly, the existing bridges spanning the Delaware River were examined so that their value could be assessed and they could be purchased. Within
357-507: The following: Several interstate compacts may establish multi-state agencies in order to coordinate policy between, or perform tasks on behalf of, member states. Such agencies may take the form of commissions, with at least one representative from a member state. Alternatively, member states to a compact may opt for cooperation with a single independent non-profit organization which carries out designated tasks without government funding. The Compact Clause ( Article I, Section 10, Clause 3 ) of
378-580: The next five years, almost all of the existing bridges spanning the Delaware River between New York and Pennsylvania were owned and operated by the newly founded commission. From north to south: Interstate compact Most early interstate compacts resolved boundary disputes, but since the early 20th century, compacts have increasingly been used as a tool of state cooperation and mutual recognition on infrastructure, services and professional licensing, often to ease administrative barriers and reduce costs and litigation. In some cases, an agreement will create
399-495: The parties", prohibits members from "modify[ing] or repeal[ing] [the agreement] unilaterally", and requires "'reciprocation' of mutual obligations" constitutes an interstate compact. Additionally, the CRS report cites the Court's opinion in Northeast Bancorp as suggesting that a requirement of a new interstate governmental entity is a sufficient condition for an agreement to qualify as being an interstate compact under
420-853: The potential erosion of an enumerated power of the United States Congress by an interstate compact can arguably require explicit congressional approval. The CRS report cites the Supreme Court's rulings in Florida v. Georgia (1855) and in Texas v. New Mexico and Colorado (2018) as recognizing that explicit congressional consent is also required for interstate compacts that alter the horizontal balance of power amongst state governments. Citing Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority v. Citizens for Abatement of Aircraft Noise, Inc. (1991) as stating that if an enumerated power under
441-568: The surveying of the Orr and Whitner line . On April 9, 1872, Congress approved the Orr and Whitner Line as part of the border between Georgia and Florida. Justice Curtis, joined by Justices McLean, Daniel and Campbell, delivered the dissenting opinion, asserting that the United States was effectively made a party through the Attorney General, and such intervention by the United States government
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