This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Tuesday, June 21st, 2011.

I'm Caleb Brown.

Many states form compacts to achieve ends they would find a bigger challenge alone.

But what happens when states try to change federal law or regulation

via compact?

Many states are trying to turn Medicaid into a block grant program via state by state agreement.

Will it work?

Ilia Shapiro, senior fellow in constitutional studies

at the Cato Institute, comments.

Compacts themselves are nothing new.

There's a compact clause in the Constitution

which basically says that traits, excuse me, states can't

conclude them without congressional approval.

As the doctrine has developed, however, states do conclude compacts without congressional approval, those that don't

implicate federal power.

So for example, two states get together and talk about how they're going to dispose of low-level

radioactive materials or how they're going to deal with the river that runs between

them.

Anything like this, the New York-New Jersey compact for the Port Authority, or Maryland DC Virginia compact about the the

Washington metro. Other states subscribe in essence to a body of regulation

regarding insurance and things like that?

That's right, or a payment of child support, an enforcement of orders about child support,

...