Chamber of Commerce of the United States v. Lockyer

This case requires us to balance two important governmental interests: the ability of states to control the use of their own funds, and the federal government’s national labor policy. The majority’s critical error is in failing to recognize our responsibility to honor both of these interests to the extent possible — instead, it gives short shrift to California’s sovereign*995ty interests through an overbroad application of federal labor preemption doctrine that conflicts with both our past precedent and that of the Supreme Court. The majority’s preemption analysis subverts important federalism…