With all the power that has concentrated in the presidency in recent years, sometimes people forget state governments wield plenty of power too. States have their own healthcare laws, welfare programs, environmental regulations, taxes, etc.

Governing from the state and local level has long been something conservatives prefer to federal action, given their desire for a limited federal government and affinity for the 10th Amendment, which reserves for states and “the people” any powers not given in the Constitution to the feds. For the past six years, it’s helped that so many state legislatures and governorships have been held by Republicans.