COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — The Ohio Statehouse hosted a historic gathering of legislative leaders from across the country Monday, discussing concerns about the increasing power of the federal government.

Senate presidents and House speakers from about 40 states met in the chambers of the Ohio House of Representatives, unanimously adopting a nonbinding declaration for the restoration of federalism and state empowerment.

“The states are not instrumentalities of the federal government; the states created the federal government, the states created the constitution,” said Bryan Thomas, spokesperson for the National Conference of State Legislatures (NSCL), which organized the assembly.

In addition to the federalism declaration, the inaugural Assembly of State Legislative Leaders unanimously adopted rules and frameworks for future assemblies. These rules were submitted by a bipartisan steering committee made up of five Democrats and five Republicans. Likewise, the Assembly’s proposal process requires bipartisan support in order to get a vote.

“Coming from a blue state and minority [party] in the current federal government, it’s really important for us to find partners to work with,” Hawaii Senate President Ron Kouchi (D) said. “What better partners than our fellow legislators?”

Ohio Speaker of the House Matt Huffman (R-Lima) has been working to organize an assembly of legislative leaders to reassert the tenets of federalism for years.

“What we’ve done in the last 50 years or so, I don’t think that George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and John Adams would recognize,” Huffman said. “There are some things that the states do better and some things that constitutionally the states are required to do.”

According to Thomas, there are several specific issues where many states feel their power has been usurped by the federal government—particularly with regard to Medicaid policy.

“With changes to Medicaid coming down the pipe from Congress, what is the state role?” Thomas said. “What flexibility can states have in administering this program?”

“Medicaid is the Pac-Man of the state budget. It is costing the state more and more money each year, it’s completely unsustainable,” Ohio Senate President Rob McColley (R-Napoleon) said. “It’s necessary for us to have these conversations about Medicaid because every state’s dealing with the same challenges.”

The Assembly did not end up voting on a proposed declaration regarding Medicaid, which would have urged Congress to “avoid unfunded mandates” and assert that states should “retain the authority to customize eligibility, benefits, and delivery systems.”

Although Thomas said planning for the Assembly has stretched between presidential administrations, President Donald Trump has made several moves during the first year of his second term to assert federal authority over the states — most recently by signing an executive order limiting states’ ability to regulate AI, and attempting to pressure the Indiana state legislature into redrawing congressional maps.

“There’s no specific action here of the current administration or the past administration that spurred this,” Thomas said. “This is more about a real grounding in principles.”

“Anybody has the ability to voice their opinion or their concerns on a variety of these issues,” McColley said of Trump’s campaign to influence the Indiana legislature. “I think the administration is free to talk about it and be involved in the process.”

It is not clear when or where the Assembly will meet next, but Kouchi suggested a meeting could be held at July’s NCSL conference in Chicago. With a framework in place, Kouchi said he hopes the next assembly will get into the “meaty issues” concerning state legislative leaders.