Big Cities, Small Towns, One Problem: State Overreach
Urban and rural communities have different needs. Why do state legislatures ignore that?
When we think about government overreach, we often picture federal laws overriding state policies. But what happens when state governments ignore the distinct needs of their own communities, forcing cities and rural towns into policies that don’t fit?
Too often, state legislatures impose one-size-fits-all mandates on everything from law enforcement to infrastructure spending, assuming what works in a small town will work in a major city—or vice versa. But the reality is far more complex.
One striking example? Law enforcement. Many assume that small towns have their own police departments, just like cities do. However, in Pennsylvania and other states, many rural areas don’t have local police. Instead, they rely entirely on state troopers, leading to very different challenges than those faced in cities with multiple layers of law enforcement.
This case, and many others, show why local governance is essential. The needs of urban and rural communities are too different for state-level mandates to work for everyone.
The Pennsylvania State Police Case: A Law Enforcement Divide
In Pennsylvania, many small towns don’t have a local police force. Instead, they rely on the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) for all law enforcement services. Unlike city police departments, PSP troopers cover massive geographic areas, responding to everything from serious crimes to non-emergency calls that, in a city, would be handled by social services or private security.
Surprisingly, this has led to a higher number of reported incidents per capita in PSP-covered areas compared to urban areas with local police. A study found that PSP-covered communities experienced 151 incidents per 1,000 people, while urban areas had just 33 per 1,000.
This doesn’t mean crime is higher in rural areas. Instead, it highlights the fundamental differences in how law enforcement operates in urban vs. rural communities.
Why Are Rural State Police Incident Rates Higher?
PSP Handles Everything – In cities, multiple agencies handle different responsibilities: transit police, campus police, private security, and even social workers responding to mental health crises. Rural areas don’t have these resources, so PSP responds to everything, including minor incidents that wouldn’t require police intervention in a city.
Lack of Social Services – People can access crisis teams, homeless outreach programs, and mental health professionals in an urban environment. In rural areas, PSP officers may be the only available responders to domestic disputes, welfare checks, and mental health crises.
Geographic Coverage – PSP troopers cover vast territories, meaning each trooper may handle more calls per person than urban officers working in concentrated areas.
This situation illustrates why state-level policies on policing often fail to account for these differences.
For example, if a state legislature mandated a specific number of officers per capita statewide, it might fail both urban and rural areas but in different ways. In cities, it could leave high-crime neighborhoods with inadequate staffing. At the same time, it might assign officers based on population size rather than geographic coverage in rural areas, ignoring that state police in these communities often need to patrol vast areas and respond to a wide range of calls beyond traditional law enforcement.
Beyond Policing: How State Mandates Fail Rural and Urban Areas Alike
The problem of state overreach extends beyond policing. Many essential services—education, transportation, and healthcare—have fundamentally different needs in urban and rural settings. When state governments fail to recognize this, both urban and rural communities suffer.
School Vouchers: A Policy That Fails Both Sides
A growing number of states are pushing school voucher programs, which allow parents to use public education funds to send their children to private schools. While supporters claim vouchers increase educational choice, the reality is that they often harm both urban and rural communities, but in different ways.
The Rural Problem: Many rural areas don’t have private schools nearby, meaning families can’t realistically use vouchers. However, rural public schools still lose funding when the state diverts education dollars to voucher programs—reducing per-student funding, shifting money to urban private schools, and forcing budget cuts. Even if no students leave, rural schools may have fewer resources, larger class sizes, or even the risk of closure.
The Urban Problem: In cities where private schools are more accessible, vouchers can increase segregation by race and income, as wealthier families are better positioned to take advantage of private schooling options. Meanwhile, public schools struggle with reduced funding as more students leave the system.
In Texas, Governor Greg Abbott faced pushback from rural Republicans when trying to expand school vouchers statewide. Their argument? Vouchers would gut public education in small towns, leaving rural students with fewer options, not more.
This is a prime example of statewide policies ignoring local realities. What might increase school choice in a city could devastate public education, but under state mandates, local communities have no say.
Infrastructure Spending
A state that prioritizes highway expansion might benefit rural communities but leave cities struggling with outdated bridges, traffic congestion, and underfunded public transit.
Conversely, mass transit funding might help cities but be useless to rural residents who rely on personal vehicles.
Healthcare Access
Urban hospitals often receive state funding to expand services, but rural hospitals are closing at alarming rates due to a lack of resources. A state law requiring hospitals to meet strict emergency care standards might work fine in cities but force rural hospitals to shut down entirely if they can’t afford compliance.
Why Local Control is the Only Fair Solution
Cities and rural areas don’t need the same policies, but they do need the same ability to govern themselves in ways that work for them.
Local officials know their communities. A mayor in a city understands that public transit, affordable housing, and crime reduction programs are priorities. At the same time, a county commissioner in a rural area knows that road maintenance, hospital access, and agricultural infrastructure are critical.
Flexibility is key. State laws that dictate rigid standards often fail to meet the needs of both urban and rural communities.
Democracy at the closest level. If state lawmakers impose laws overriding local governance, local voters lose power over their communities.
The only real solution is local control, allowing cities to tailor policies to their population size, crime rate, and resources while ensuring communities have sufficient coverage without unnecessary mandates.
Conclusion: The Need for Local Self-Governance
This isn’t about politics; it’s about making sure communities can govern themselves based on their needs rather than being forced into policies that don’t fit.
If we genuinely want governance that works, we must empower local decision-makers because they, not distant state lawmakers, understand what their communities actually need.
Bibliography:
Pennsylvania State Police Coverage in Rural and Urban Pennsylvania Municipalities. (2017). The Center for Rural Pennsylvania. Retrieved from https://www.rural.pa.gov/getfile.cfm?file=Resources%2Ffact-sheets%2Fstate_police_coverage_2017.pdf&view=true
The Urban-Rural Funding Disparity. (1992). ResearchGate. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/234773004_The_Urban-Rural_Funding_Disparity
Private School Vouchers Are Especially Harmful to Rural Communities. (2023). Idaho Fiscal. Retrieved from https://idahofiscal.org/private-school-vouchers-are-especially-harmful-to-rural-communities/
Sweden Township Disbands Police Force, Relies on State Police. (2024). Spotlight PA. Retrieved from https://www.spotlightpa.org/statecollege/2024/02/rural-pennsylvania-state-police-sweden-township-potter-county-law-enforcement/
Texas School Voucher Debate: Governor Abbott Faces Rural Opposition. (2025). Houston Chronicle. Retrieved from https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/texas-take/article/abbott-vouchers-school-funding-20168264.php
Public Rally in Austin Protests Proposed School Voucher Program. (2025). Chron. Retrieved from https://www.chron.com/politics/article/save-texas-schools-vouchers-20181988.php
Elon Musk Urges Texas Legislature to Pass Private School Vouchers. (2025). San Antonio Express-News. Retrieved from https://www.expressnews.com/politics/article/elon-musk-texas-school-vouchers-20168330.php
The answer is get rid of the money system. Greed will soon desist. Equal for all.